Montreal-based band embrace the hiss with engaging collection of songs and sounds.
After an eight-year pause, The Barr Brothers return with their latest release, “Let It Hiss”, an album arising from a period of personal and professional challenges that temporarily derailed them. As the band notes, the album’s title is a reference to their approach to writing and recording the album in the aftermath, “To leave the hiss in. The discomfort, the imperfection, the struggle, and allow the music to breathe again”. The album features ten songs of emotionally charged songwriting that make a stylistic leap from previous recordings, while still retaining the core elements of their trademark sound. Thematically, the songs reflect the band’s experiences and shifts in their lives over the past few years with lyrics that revel in the messiness of everyday life.
The album kicks off with the sounds of crickets and a gently strummed acoustic guitar before Barr’s world-weary voice sings “Take it from me /I really can’t abide anymore / Had it a while / I think it’s finally time to let it go” coming across as a late night confession before the track slowly builds in intensity with some soaring vocals and a lovely flamenco styled solo. The song concludes on a positive note with Barr singing, “Take it from me / It’s gonna be alright”. It sets a personal tone for the record with songs that deal with some of the trials and tensions the brothers recognised as roadblocks to moving forward in their relationship and to making music.
The title track lays bare some of the challenges brothers Andrew and Brad faced and addresses these truths head-on. Built on a gritty R & B foundation and driven by some slinky guitar work and infectious grooves, propelled by an energetic rhythm section, Barr soulfully observes, “Northern stars and battle scars / Don’t let anyone divert you / Just because you don’t feel the pain / Doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt you”. The contemplative ‘English Harbour’ is a gentle, folk-infused ballad featuring lovely harmonies from Jim James of My Morning Jacket and an exquisite guitar solo. It’s the sound of a band at the top of their game, where everything just lands together perfectly in four minutes of musical bliss.
The quality doesn’t let up as the record moves along, shifting from gentle acoustic ballads to more sonically imaginative folk-rock numbers where Barr coaxes some otherworldly sounds out of his guitar, including some concise and effective soloing, spurred on by some inventive drumming. The soulful ‘Moonbeam’ glides along on a beautiful melody, with some lovely piano and harp, including a verse sung in French by Quebecoise artist Klô Pelgag, whose angelic voice provides a nice contrast to Barr’s starker singing. ‘Owning Up to Everyone’ and ‘Another Tangerine’ underscore the band’s folkier instincts on a couple of acoustic-based ballads that echo some of the band’s earlier acoustic tracks. The former, which makes a strong case for being the record’s highlight, encompasses a lovely slide guitar solo that would make George Harrison smile, while the latter, the folkiest track of the lot, features some delicate finger-picked guitar in tandem with some melodic bass playing, including a beautifully played solo.
Nothing that comes before will prepare the listener for the album’s closer, the energetic, cathartic ‘Upsetter’ that arrives like a punch to the gut. It’s a jarring number that has the band channelling their inner MC5, albeit through an americana filter, made more forceful with its placement after two of the album’s more tranquil numbers. The song proceeds at a frenetic pace until an unsettling guitar solo near the end is unleashed and proceeds to shake the dust from the rafters. It’s a cacophony of short, stabbing guitar bursts full of garage rock grit, and while it couldn’t be any more different than the album’s opener, like the other tracks on the record, still falls undeniably within the realm of The Barr Brothers’ unique sound. Take a listen and experience what the hiss is all about.
