It's always exciting to discover new bands who are working outside the bounds of popular music to create something of beauty and substance. Enter Bellador, an indie rock outfit from Jackson, Mississippi that seems to have come from nowhere to release one of the best indie albums of the year.
The band's sound is generally mid-tempo and melodious with lead guitar lines that sink a hook into the listener and won't let go. It is a sound that is close to last year's pleasant surprise Serene.
Of the ten tracks, three are instrumentals. The seven songs with lyrics are very well-written. The lyrics to "The Observer" are a definite highlight: "A quiet creeps into the soul / Asking nothing, wanting nothing but us / The wind blows the sweet breath of God / To remind us we are not alone / The sun fades behind the clouds / Still shining warmth upon our hearts / And who am I but a mere observer of the grace of God? / No one / There are words, there are no thoughts / There is only beauty. And peace. And hope." Despite well-penned lyrics like this, the focus is on the music, which allows the songs to exude even more meaning through the lyrics.
The instrumental track "Am Meer" works well. However, it is on the album's last two songs "That's a Good One Trebek" and "Neither Require Nor Demand" where the band goes astray and ends the album on a sour note. It would have been better to pull the final two tracks off and release the album with only eight songs than to take the audience along on such a grand ride and spoil it at the end. I'm sure that the band will learn that lesson in time, though.
Overall, Bellador has released an album of fresh, luscious music that should gain them a nice following. This is a band that makes music as art, and for that they must be appreciated.
3.5 tocks
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