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Bend the Future — Sounds So Wrong
(Tonzonen TON133, 2023, CD / LP / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2024-02-02

Sounds So Wrong Cover art

As human beings, we are accustomed to categorizing and labeling the things we find in the world around us - it’s a central part of what makes us intelligent creatures (to the extent that we are actually intelligent creatures). It’s safe to say that most of us who have grown up in a modern multinational culture are in the habit of categorizing the music we hear, a determination that can usually be made within seconds upon encountering new music. As a reviewer, part of my process is to try to listen beyond that initial judgment, or at least not limit my opinion of the music to whatever I may feel about the category something goes in. In the case of Bend the Future, typical genre categories are sidestepped in a very satisfying (maybe frustrating for some) way. Sounds So Wrong, even more than its precursor Without Notice (2021), is a fluid blending of jazz and rock and electronic music, but an even more useful way of looking at it may be that Piel Pawlowski (drums), Samy Chëbre (keyboards), Rémi Pouchain (bass), Pierre-Jean Ménabé (alto sax), Nemo Pawlowski (soprano sax), and Can Yıldırım (vocals, guitar, some bass and keyboards) create the music they create, and let it fall where it may as far as listener categorization goes. Yıldırım favors clean tones on the guitar, and the keyboards often feature Rhodes-like sounds; these factors, combined with their fondness for extended chords and odd meters, bring to mind both progressive rock and jazz-rock, though neither of these characterizations is very precise. Several tracks include arpeggiated chords on synthesizers as well, further confusing the matter. But all of this is beside the point: Sounds So Wrong sounds, in actual fact, so right. Listeners who like music that is complex but also accessible and doesn’t stray into harshness or dissonance should find a home with this pleasantly original album from a fascinating band.

Filed under: New releases, 2023 releases

Related artist(s): Bend the Future

More info
http://bendthefuture.bandcamp.com/album/sounds-so-wrong

 

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