Ancient Shapes/Common Holly
Ancient Shapes
A Flower That Wouldn’t Bloom / You’ve Changed
Ancient Shapes third offering, A Flower That Wouldn’t Bloom, is a concise and lively power-pop album. Fronted by Canadian psychedelic country darling, Daniel Romano, Ancient Shapes first arrived in 2017 with a self-titled album, and loud, energetic live sets to boot. Clocking in at just over twenty-five minutes A Flower That Wouldn’t Bloom will be the bands longest album to date. “To Be Touched”, the seventh track of thirteen, is the albums longest at just two minutes and thirty-four seconds. With such short run times the songs shine in their succinctness, and almost impossibly catchy repetitiveness that had me singing along by my second listen.
Touching on issues like happiness, loneliness, togetherness, longing, acceptance, colonial guilt complexes, and home town optimism, A Flower That Wouldn’t Bloom still has touches of Romano’s dry tone and humour. Recorded in two separate sessions a calendar year apart, the songs are unified, harmonious, and in the end a deeply satisfying third release.
- Ella Coyes
Common Holly
When I say to you Black Lightning / Solitaire
Amongst the indie-folk stylings of many singer-songwriters these days Montreal-based musician Brigitte Naggar, who records as Common Holly, stands out as a virtuoso with her most creative endeavor yet via the release of her sophomore album When I say to you Black Lightning. WISTYBL is “an exploration of the ways in which we all experience pain, fear and self-delusion, and how we can learn to confront those feelings with boldness”.
Gentle yet commanding, this album is an absolute must listen. Naggar’s ability to cultivate cathartic compositions is obvious right off the bat. In the opener “Central Booking” the timbral tension is broken by the songbird-esque falsetto of ‘Cana-nana-nana-na-da’ which immediately proves her ability to craft a deeply vulnerable folk-rock album that is both catchy and experimental. The texture of WISTYBL mixes varying instrumental influxes, samples and sound effects that amplify the warm tones, jittery arpeggios, and lyrics, which emerge like metaphorical diary entries carried through wispy, enchanting vocals. ‘Oh I think we’ve been measured out for pain since birth’ hums Naggar on the track “Measured” capturing the sombre tone of the album. That is not to negate the playful spirit also captured on the album. “Joshua Snakes” and “Crazy OK” channel more pop sensibilities, but the nine track album never loses its peculiar, poised weirdness. Brigitte Naggar is absolutely masterful and belongs in the same category as Cate le Bon (specifically her softer work on Cyrk II) and the lingering ghost-folk entrancement of Phoebe Bridgers.
When I Say to you Black Lightning is out now on Barsuk, Royal Mountain, Solitaire, Dalliance, and Remote Control Records.
- Nicola Gunter
