On BÆNCH’s debut album, the band capture this spirit of escapism while confronting the dangers of falling into uniform thinking.
BÆNCH – Presence of Everything
Often times, music can be an escape from the mindless repetition of routine. For each chorus, hook and verse, there exists an evident rejection of the norm. Put simply, it fuels a desire to escape the treadmill of the day-to-day.
For an album centred on the mundane, the soundscapes are anything but. With a multitude of varying influences, the band is capable of switching from post-punk to 70’s inspired psychedelia and beyond between tracks. Every instrument on the project is given space to breathe, with each song offering up a different aspect of the band the spotlight. The slow synth build-up of ‘Treadmill’ gives way to the low, slinking bassline of ‘Philistine’; a particular change of pace that still captivates me. Elsewhere, the shimmering keys on ‘Wandering’ and driving drums of ‘Absence of Nothing’ rise to the foreground as particular instrumental accomplishments.
“Escape from mundanity today and allow yourself to get lost somewhere between the absence of nothing and the presence of everything.”
While the instrumental emphasis shifts across the album, there is a cohesiveness in the lyrical and thematic tone that further cements the album as a conceptual success. The necessity of stepping off life’s treadmill is one such recurring lyrical focus; with the line…
“you can’t harvest what you haven’t sewn”
in particular, warning of uniform thinking’s lack of reward. The introduction (‘Treadmill’) and intermission (‘Hello, who’s this?’) tracks establish an underlying malevolence in line with the lyrical tone yet also act as effective atmospheric breaks.
The title track and lead single – read together as ‘The Presence of Everything/ The Absence of Nothing’- are of specific merit. While one is a shorter, punchier and emotive affair, the other is a lush and dense 8-minute mind-melter laden with wonderful atmospherics.
A world apart in instrumentation, there is nonetheless a solid connection bound by the contraposition of the two titles. Culminating in a live performance of the track ‘Time’s Arrow’- accompanied by a stunning live video performance- the album ends by displaying the raw soul of the fledgling band. Just one example of their hypnotic live performances, make sure to catch BAENCH on the ‘Colourless’ tour of their native Denmark.
BÆNCH have come out on their debut album fully formed; with what feels like a truly cohesive concept album. Not only are they one to watch, BÆNCH have already proven themselves worthy of the praise they are bound to receive. Escape from mundanity today and allow yourself to get lost somewhere between the absence of nothing and the presence of everything.
BÆNCH are:
Frederick Rasmussen
Alfred Leisgaard
Thea Hamborg
Emil Lauritzen
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Words Angus Nisbet
