Track Premiere: Bellows—’The Rose Gardener’
Posted: by The Editor
Bellows‘ music has always been a crisscross of organic and manufactured sounds. What began as a stream of folk releases clearly, though impressively, spawning from songwriter Oliver Kalb’s bedroom, has developed into an expansive yet equally self-made myriad of sonic elements. Auto-tune, club beats, lush synths, and a grand breadth of guitar tones were crystallized into his sound on 2016’s Fist & Palm. As its titled implies, it’s an album that flips between hard-hitting bangers and warm embraces of art-folk, effectively capturing the simultaneous hugeness and smallness of the modern world.
The Rose Gardener is the fourth Bellows full-length (out 2/22 via Topshelf Records), and it sees Kalb smoothing the inherent edges of such a dichotomous sound. Its title track, which we’re premiering below, begins as a tender folk song that’s spliced with passages of poly-rhythmic drum pads and an ascending piano arpeggio. But towards the track’s middle section, a flutter of strings suddenly usher in a surge of squelchy synths, thunderous drums, and a pounding, distorted guitar riff. It’s a brief climax, though, as the song quickly slides back into its gentle groove, with just traces of acoustic drums lingering behind Kalb’s soft croons, teasing a second explosion that never arrives.
Compared to the three singles released prior, “The Rose Gardener” is the most intricate and the most patient, as the artist who cares for the delicate flower is required to be.
Stream it below:
The Rose Gardener is out 2/22 via Topshelf Records.
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Eli Enis | @eli_enis
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