REVIEW: Tram, Heavy Black Frame (Jetset)
- Chris Hill
If Low and Paul Williams birthed a child, Tram would be its name, with Nick Drake and Red House Painters honored as the godparents. Tram's slow and minimal songs don't climax; they break, swirl, recede, then cease; waves of musical emotion that die at the feet of a person staring out from the shoreline to a cold, dark, and lonely ocean.
This isn't just imagery. Paul Anderson's lyrics are gray and bleak, the cathartic product, one would assume, of a badly broken heart. Several rays of sun come through the clouds, but their rarity, and the barren splendor of the music, combine to make an irrestible undertow from start to finish.
The first track, "Nothing Left to Say," focuses on the sorrow of soured romance ("that numbing feeling, the sadness underneath/who's gonna catch me the way you used to?") with an undulating harmonium sighing in resignation against a strummed electric guitar. "Don't prolong the agony, the knowing when to go/Cut out the cancer, before it grows." Thibault De Montford's oboe gently closes the door, only to fittingly appear again on "I've Been Here Before," a bookend to this song. "It's all right/I know just what to do/Leave behind those things that pull me down/...I'll be fine/I've been here once before."
"Expectations" meditates on the same emotions found in "Nothing Left to Say" ("your eyes have lost their shine now/ expression changed, your interest waned/...I can tell you're disappointed/you're trying hard to hide it"). The interplay of Anderson's sensitive, trembling voice, Martine Roberts' light vocals and the measured pace, recall the best moments of Low's debut, I Could Live in Hope. "Reason Why" also uses male/female counterpointing well, adding depth and perspective to the emotionally resolved lyrics ("My mind's working overtime/to find a reason why/I'd walk 500 miles/to find a place to hide/...You won't see the best of me").
(If Roberts' name rings a bell, Tram boasts both her and Broken Dog partner, Clive Painter, among its five members.)
The instrumentals "Like Clockwork" and "You Can Go Now (if you want)" give the players a chance to stretch their legs without the distractions of lyrics. The latter is a moody, Western-tinged piece reminiscent of the wondrous Canadian band Godspeed You Black Emperor!, though free of the strings which catapult that band to another realm.
Tram's debut isn't a disc for a sunny day. In much the way that Low is best appreciated at night or during an overcast day, this cd requires proper atmospheric accompaniment. Though, if your mood is gray, it won't really matter when you play this, will it? Just close your eyes and put on the headphones. It's working for me now.
