A cello is one of the most beautiful instruments in the world. Its deep, rich tone gives the instrument a full, solid sound and still, when played with the right technique, has the eye-watering ability of its cousin the violin. The cello provides the low bass voice for most string quartets and still, the instrument goes solo just as beautifully. A cello covers the entire range of the human voice, therefore giving the instrument an extremely versatile range. The genre of post-rock, led by bands such as Explosions in the Sky, Sigur Ros, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, often uses cellos, most noticeably in the second and third bands mentioned, to give a rich bass sound. Of course, many members of Godspeed went off into side projects that also became relatively well-known in the genre. However, one side project a bit more obscure focuses their music almost entirely around the beautiful sound of the cello.
Esmerine is the talents of:
Beckie Foon- Cello
Bruce Cawdron- Marimba, Percussion
Other musicians from Godspeed make short appearances as well.
Esmerine sounds a lot different from their contemporaries and friends in Canada. Even most post-rock bands use some form of a guitar, but no guitar appears on the entire album until the very end, therefore straying even further from rock music than most post-rock bands. The only element that puts the band into post-rock is the occasional use of the rock beat in the drums. The cello, for the most part, carries the main melody while the marimba or another similar instrument makes all the chord tones and melodic backing figures. Whether Cawdron uses a drum set or a conga-like instrument, the percussion is pure atmosphere. Unlike Godspeed You! Black Emperor, where the drums give all the energy and life to the band, the drums here sit in the background, only laying out a certain feel and atmosphere. Due to this, another difference from other post-rock lies in Esmerine. People know post-rock mostly for its orgasmic and epic climaxes. Esmerine strips themselves bare of huge climaxes, relying more on melody and beauty to serenade the listener. Although removing epic builds seems like putting a swing beat to rock music, it works. Esmerine lets themselves focus more on melody and create more atmospheric music.
Good thing Esmerine creates fantastic atmosphere. The album leaves a general impression of a reflective, melancholic dream that dips into the deepest sorrows and comes out in the strongest of recoveries. No song better showcases the atmosphere of the band than the 16 minute
Histories Repeating as One Thousand Hearts Mend. The beginning showcases an incredibly deep and dark cello melody. The melody is so brooding and melancholic; it perfectly sets the tone for the rest of the song. The cello continues, playing variations on the original melody and expanding upon the ideas laid down. As more tones add in, a dissonance evolves out of the mist. In sections like these, Esmerine creates the perfect aura about their music. The chords drone on, but the chords move just the slightest bit creating suspensions and dissonance, giving enough interest to continue the song. Slowly, as light percussion enters, the melody begins to change. The marimba sticks out much more in this section, laying down a solidified beat. The new melody is much more folk-influenced and reaches out more. As all sorts of harmonies and nuances create differences throughout minutes of what seems to be mostly the same thing, one can not help but wonder what inspired the band to write such terribly sad music. As the cello returns to the deep and dark melody, more percussion builds, creating the closest to a climax build the album sees. However, after minutes and minutes of chord building, a climax never really comes. Instead, all the tension is let loose by a marimba transition as the melody changes to something a bit more frantic.
From there, the album enters a string of shorter songs that never surpass 6 minutes, also unusual for a post rock band. The rest of the album reaches out to more experimental music, stepping away from the sound laid out in the first two tracks.
Mados is a short song of entirely strings, containing the most frenzied and frantic melodies of the entire album. Still, in the midst of the chaos, the tone of the cello is so breathtakingly beautiful that it never challenges the listener too much.
Why She Swallows Bullets and Stones brings a piano to the forefront, playing a repetitive melody while strings accompany the melody. Throughout the song, the piano continues to build variations of the melody as a static-like bass tone constantly gets louder and louder throughout the middle of the song.
Ebb Tide, Spring Tide, Neap Tide brings the most experimentation seen on the album, with the entire song just being church bells. Nearly 4 minutes of church bells. This gets a bit too boring by about 2 minutes, but it is certainly a unique idea. While no songs create epic climaxes, the whole album could be seen as a slow builder as
Le Rire De L’ange brings in full drums for the entire song as well as a distorted guitar to accompany the strings at the end.
This album is a stretch out to all other post-rock artists, challenging them all to attempt something new and undiscovered. While most post-rock bands like to stay in one sound and never expand, Esmerine is a breath of fresh air, bringing all kinds of new, beautiful ideas to the table. Esmerine makes part of me wish that Godspeed sticks to their side projects, as Esmerine has the potential to go places where Godspeed, Sigur Ros, and all the other large names in post-rock has never gone before.
Recommended Tracks:
Histories Repeating As One Thousand Hearts Mend
Mados
Why She Swallows Bullets and Stones
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