Other Truths
The sixth full-length from Do Make Say Think features four long-form tracks, three of which clock in at over 10 minutes, and all of which trace the inimitable musical arcs that have made this band justly celebrated for their unique sonic palette and vibrant distillation of compositional forms and influences into some of the past decade’s most consistently rich and rewarding instrumental rock.
DMST admirably stick to their roots and allow the vines that spring from their fertile musical garden to wind, curl and climb for as long as required. More than ever, the players keep their heads down, creating wonderful multi-movement instrumental works (with the occasional mantric or wordless vocal passage, courtesy guest singers The Akron Family and Lullabye Arkestra), overflowing with attention to tone and timbre, animated by unfussy yet ornate harmony, melody and polyrhythm, shot through with ineffable soul. The four songs on Other Truths are vintage Do Make Say Think, and the album represents the first time since the band’s debut (recorded over a dozen years ago) that they have found themselves with an entire collection of songs that unfold so organically over long duration.
Ultimately it is tricky to distill what has made DMST so compelling to so many critics and fans over their 13-year history, but inarguably something beyond the sum of its parts has always sparkled through their music, an amalgam of many elements that seem present all at once, on every song and through every album: cerebral, emotional, atmospheric, visceral, cosmic, pastoral, synthetic, organic, meditative, ecstatic. Other Truths rallies them all once again, in new and dynamic ways, bearing the distinct imprint of the band’s sound – a brilliant addition to the band’s canon.
Release date: 19 October 2009 (Europe), 20 October 2009 (rest of world)
Running time: 43:44
Credits
PERSONNEL
Ohad Benchetrit
David Mitchell
James Payment
Justin Small
Charles Spearin
WITH
Julie Penner: violin
GUESTS
Michael Barth: trumpet
Leon Kingstone: Saxophone
Recorded at Giant Studios and Th’Schvitz, mixed at Th’Schvitz, by Ohad Benchetrit with Justin Small and Charles Spearin, Toronto, 2009. Mastered at Lacquer Channel by Phil Demetro.
