The new collaboration between Anthony Newes and Brendan Kelly, aka BK-One, comes from good intentions. Both Minneapolis-based musicians had participated in a variety of music-making projects through the years, from folk-rock to hip-hop, but only met through their work with the developmentally disabled at a group home. That fortuitous encounter led them to share ideas about music, and they agreed to try making a record together. But they didn’t want to be saddled with needing to keep to the genres they had been known for before; they wanted to start afresh, and that decision pays great dividends on this new self-titled album.
Diverse sounds, from sampled beats to kalimba, coalesce around crafty melodies throughout this debut recording. Assisted by members of Polica and Atmosphere, Newes and Kelly strike new ground with songs like the signature track, “Samana,” which have a vaguely international flavor, much like artists like Vampire Weekend or Tune-Yards. But it is a sound of their own: modest, but memorable, and with enough nooks and crannies to reward repeat listens.
-Eric J. Lawrence
Tracklist:
- Intro
- Samana
- Oh Lord
- Heartbroken In Love
- A Song For Al's Dead Mother
- Wind-Up Dolls
- Each Time I Die
- All That We Are (So Far To Go)
- Tiny Little Pieces
- Elfman In Nine
- A Song For Liam Joe
- Lupine
- World Behind
- In Search Of Signs