Balmorhea – Constellations Album Review

As Constellations is a concept record about “the cosmos and beyond,” the route that Balmorhea has taken to realizing this concept is simply remarkable. Digital music-making equipment has defined the realm of all things cosmic in a way that is now somewhat predictable; it seems that space is musically textured by long, drawn-out electronic ambience. Occasionally, this ambience might be accented by the use of analog instruments, such as violin, but it’s uncommon for said instruments to be fully embraced in their classical beauty.

Luckily, armed with the analog prowess to create rich foundations through the use of piano, acoustic guitar, violin, upright bass, and banjo, Austin’s Balmorhea are capable of creating much more than the sounds that are in the tried-and-true repetoire of “spacey.” With Constallations, they don’t use synthesizers to manipulate dreamy textures. Instead, using comforting instrumentation that really soaks its depth into your body, Balmorhea manage to capture a feeling that space is much bigger than we can ever imagine.

The album begins cautiously with “To The Order Of Night.” It ambles along with slow, thoughtful piano, like a child learning of a brand new world — or it may even be the new world itself, forming and building. From a distance, the growth seems gradual. But by the second track, “Bowsprit,” the infant seems to have reached the next chapter of its life; it is now growing at a visible, continuing rate. Flumes of acoustic guitar and violin weave in and out of each other playfully, and after the song slows down for a contemplative string-heavy bridge, banjo and thunderous percussion join back in for a truly epic, chaotic closing.

Listen to “Bowspirit”DOWNLOAD MP3

Rather than feeling like a micro look at planets from within their atmospheres, Constellations feels much more like a macro look of the relationship of each cosmic body to others in the universe. Whereas the aforementioned spacey textures succeed in providing one with the feeling of calm and ambient stability on foreign planets, Constellations cascades with classical radiance. It captures not just the romanticized notion of space — although the sounds on the disc are no doubt beautiful — but the frenzied, unknown reality of it as well. Less relevant are chords and harmonies; more relevant are the notes played individually — whether it be on piano, guitar, or banjo — and how they fit into the perfectly formed whole. When pianos sprinkle in and out on the title track, one gets the feeling that stars are twinkling and forming with every note of the piano — an stretch of an idea, perhaps, unless one is really paying attention, but when one hankers down to really feel the song, the weight of the piano really sinks in.

Constellations is a concept album that can accurately be described by the word “majestic.” It’s remains so from start to finish, and it is rare to find a moment on the disc where the band does not do the cosmos justice.

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Written by
Vee Hua 華婷婷

Vee Hua 華婷婷 (they/them) is a writer, filmmaker, and organizer with semi-nomadic tendencies. Much of their work unifies their metaphysical interests with their belief that art can positively transform the self and society. They are the Editor-in-Chief of REDEFINE, Interim Managing Editor of South Seattle Emerald, and Co-Chair of the Seattle Arts Commission. They also previously served as the Executive Director of the interdisciplinary community hub, Northwest Film Forum, where they played a key role in making the space more welcoming and accessible for diverse audiences.

Vee has two narrative short films. Searching Skies (2017) touches on Syrian refugee resettlement in the United States; with it, they helped co-organize The Seventh Art Stand, a national film and civil rights discussion series against Islamophobia. Reckless Spirits (2022) is a metaphysical, multi-lingual POC buddy comedy for a bleak new era, in anticipation of a feature-length project.

Vee is passionate about cultural space, the environment, and finding ways to covertly and overtly disrupt oppressive structures. They also regularly share observational human stories through their storytelling newsletter, RAMBLIN’ WITH VEE!, and are pursuing a Master’s in Tribal Resource and Environmental Stewardship under the Native American Studies Department at the University of Minnesota.

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