Weighing out the conflict of interest — Brass Bed front man Christiaan Mader is a staff writer for this publication and did once pay me to build him a bench — against the impossibility of ignoring this record, here are my notes on Brass Bed’s In The Yellow Leaf. My unethical, unapologetic take is that Leaf is a tremendous record that doesn’t sound like it came from a small label, instead possessing a big city feel that will be reflected in music mags and sites across this land that don’t realize our paychecks come from the same purse. Take it with a grain of salt if you want or take it for what it is: a stellar indie record and likely the Acadiana release that will receive the most praise from far flung outlets this year.
â— In The Yellow Leaf opens with “Maiden Voyage,” a dreamy song about drowning but is actually an allegory for religion
â— There are repeated themes: acceptance of the unavoidable and nautical metaphors, maturing
â— “I am Just a Whisper” is anything but; likely the most powerful, standout track on the record, it has a slightly muted pulse but builds to a near boil that is careful not to spill
â— “Indie” covers most of what is happening here
â— The band has evolved from indie pop with the slight alt-country twang of their early days
â— Deep
â— Borderline melancholy at times, rising promises at others
â— Mader and Johnny Campos paint smart, well-written poetry lyrically, grad-level stuff that challenges the listener
â— Nice textures, abstract and vivid
â— Lullabies (that keep you awake at night) for post-college 30-somethings
â— Lulls you quietly, draws you in then builds to just the right hum
â— Cashing drums on songs like “Be Anything” balance out the record’s dreamy quality and don’t let you slip in too deep.
â— Growth and change and questioning throughout
â— Getting older and realizing things are changing around them and that there is little they can do to stop it (or even an interest in doing so).
â— Lush soundscapes for underwater love scenes in 1970s French spy movies that were never released