In the four years since Plants and Animals’ last LP, the Montreal indie rock trio took a break – kind of. They started families and stopped playing shows. Their manager left the biz to work for the federal government, and they wrapped up their record contract. Yet every few months, the members would meet up at their studio and play whatever they felt like without the looming pressure of album cycles or release dates. Eventually, these sessions became the basis for Waltzed In From The Rumbling, a record at once thoughtful and unwieldy.
The hiatus allowed Plants and Animals to explore any whim or fancy. Orchestral, Hollywood-worthy string sections interrupt a reverbed guitar melody on We Were One, Thom Yorke-esque cooing happens over bone-chilling fuzz keyboard on All Of The Time, and Fata Morgana has atmospheric instrumentals that evoke Twin Peaks, which isn’t a coincidence: the band cites Angelo Badalamenti, the composer of the TV show’s theme song, as an influence. On the final track, the early Broken Social Scene-sounding Pure Heart, a recording of girls chatting on the bus in Montreal is plunked into the middle.
Sonic flourishes layer and coat each song, occasionally distracting from the crux of the tune. So when a relatively simple song like Stay arrives, it really stands out. Despite it becoming a full-on rocker, it opens and closes as an acoustic guitar ditty featuring a call and response from lead singer/guitarist Warren Spicer and hired gun vocalists Adèle Trottier-Rivard and Katie Moore. These unpredictable turns make Waltzed In From The Rumbling a delightful overall listen.
Top track: Stay
Plants and Animals play Field Trip June 5. See listing.
