{{{Sunset}}} "Man's Heart Complaint"

Where would musicians be without the help of punctuation? !!! would probably have half their audience (you know you love how they spell it!!!), Sigur Ros likely would have named their second album unpronounceable in "Hopelandic” and what about Sunn O)))? I still always have to look up the exact spelling every time I type their name despite the fact that they’re a favourite of mine.

Austin’s {{{Sunset}}} arguably takes the cake for his use of the ever-so-underutilised brace, or curly brackets if you will. I can’t say I’ve ever willingly used them in a proper sentence, but Bill Baird (who strikes an uncanny resemblance to River Phoenix) sure gets excited about them. Maybe it’s the aftermath of the Sound Team’s break-up that brought the urge to over pronounce his name, but it’s working, because it certainly caught my eye.

As I said, Baird was a member of the Sound Team, an underappreciated indie band from Austin that never quite reached their potential, most likely because they were on EMI affiliate Capitol, which dropped them shortly after releasing their debut, Movie Monster. That album felt a bit pedestrian to me, I must admit, and judging by Baird’s new album, Bright Blue Dream (out March 25 on Autobus Records), he seems to be in a much better position as a songwriter. As {{{Sunset}}}, he’s become confident yet lovingly meek, making music that is both accidental and intentional, but also much more honest with no shortage of ideas.

"Man’s Heart Complaint” uses a similar mid-tempo beat that Sound Team often exercised (actually more like the one that Secret Machines live by), but there seems to be so much more going here. This is most definitely headphone music, as you can hear all the instruments gelling crystal clear: the shimmering guitar ricocheting notes, a bouncing bass effortlessly holding the rhythm with the loose drums, a faint organ adding texture, and of course, Baird’s clandestine voice which begins like a bedroom recording and ends yielding to a male choir and an effects-laden monster advising "just try to smile.” A generous counsel.

{{{Sunset}}} "Man’s Heart Complaint”

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