I’m generally pretty fascinated by almost everything Ben Chasny does. The dude has proved that he can tastefully shred in a number of different contexts, but I’ve always had a soft spot for the restrained pop ballads that have gradually become more and more prevalent on his Six Organs of Admittance work. However, Chasny’s not about to let Six Organs become a straight up pop band, but the gradual incorporation of more song based material has given the world New Bums, his excellent pop minded duo with Donovan Quinn of the Skygreen Leopards.
After releasing an equally interesting 7-inch earlier this year, the duo have released a beautiful full length of plaintive songs that elegantly distills both songwriters’ pop sensibilities into a singular whole. There’s a sense of fragility and space to the songs of Voices In A Rented Room and both of those things are readily apparent in the mournful pop minimalism of “Black Bough.” The track shows how Chasny and Quinn’s voices bleed into a single entity and resultantly sounds like a haunting modernized Big Star outtake.
Voices In A Rented Room is out now via Drag City. You can listen to “Black Bough” below:
• New Bums http://www.newbums.bandcamp.com
• Drag City http://www.dragcity.com
More about: New Bums
