AVTT/PTTN “AVTT/PTTN”

The unexpected collaboration between The Avett Brothers and Mike Patton combines the sugar with the spice to create something very nice indeed.

As collaborations go, this has to be one of the most unlikely, with Scott and Seth Avett, the brothers behind the chart-topping, Grammy-nominated band, The Avett Brothers, joining forces with journeyman rocker and frontman for both Faith No More and Mr Bungle, Mike Patton. How this freshly minted collective, the seed of which was first planted back in 2019, came to be appears already lost to the myths and legends of rock ‘n’ roll, though it’s well known that the Avett boys were massive fans of Patton’s work, especially Mr Bungle, whilst growing up in North Carolina.

The creative genesis for the nine songs that make up this album centres around Scott Avett sending a demo to Patton, who would put his own stamp on it before returning and receiving the next, in what resembled a kind of assembly line, Scott sending a sketch of which Patton would update and return. This is clearly a vastly different approach from the usual methods that both the Avett Brothers and Patton have adopted for the bulk of their careers, not just in the songwriting process, but just as crucially in the final arrangements and production.

The results of this unusual alliance are immediate, as from the opening number ‘Dark Night Of My Soul’ with its gentle finger-picked acoustic guitar intro that builds in crescendo as the three voices, the sweetness of the Avett Brothers, along with the seasoned potency of Patton, blend seamlessly, creating at the same time a sense of power as well as grace. That juxtaposition is a constant factor throughout the album, as on the following number ‘To Be Known’, as well as the love song ‘Too Awesome’, where the arrangements pursue a similar ambience, with just the right amount of tension in the melody to match the subtle, sinister undercurrent that exists within the reverence of the narrative.

However, it’s not all sweetness and light as songs such as ‘Heaven’s Breath’ deliver an altogether darker and distorted sound, that leans closer to the heavy rock ‘n’ roll more associated with Patton’s previous work, but here showcasing a completely new edge to Scott’s vocal delivery, offering both a warmth and richness, and thus removing the abrasive edge from the intensity of the melody. Similarly, ‘The Ox Driver Song’ is a traditional folk song that’s been stripped from its roots and re-imagined as a brooding pagan anthem that ploughs a furrow familiar to that which Robert Plant operates with his latest project, Saving Grace. The lead single from the album ‘Eternal Love’ is another tour de force, which captures all the untamed, tangled beauty of this collaboration.

Much credit for the album’s success must be given to the arrangement and production, shared here by both The Avett Brothers, Patton and Dana Nielsen, who includes amongst his many previous collaborations Bob Dylan. Despite the weight and intensity of the overall sound, the clarity and precision of each instrument, be it an acoustic guitar, a banjo or the high-pitched keys from the upper register of a piano, is never lost beneath the percussive heft, but rather sing out like a caged bird longing for release. What is most revealing is that neither The Avett Brothers nor Patton had met in person before the entire album was recorded, with Nielsen solely responsible for overseeing the engineering.

With “AVTT/PTTN”, the contributing parties have created something unique to their previous canon of work, one that they entered into open-minded with no preconceived notion of where it would lead them. The resulting album is a triumph, and for The Avett Brothers at least, probably their finest recording to date, as it strips away much of the over-polished pop sensibilities of their previous work, removing the safety net and thus helping to deliver nine terrific songs full of jeopardy and depth that stand up to repeated listening. On this evidence, one can only hope that this album is not a one-off, as this collaboration clearly brings out the best in both parties.