For a label famous for what could be called free jazz or conscious jazz, the new one from Bex Burch is a bit of a surprise. Elegantly pastoral, There is only love and fear occupies a space that's part ambient, part jazz, and part found sound. Taken together, the bits of material easy to pin down to genre line up to make something magical here. The album positively -- in all meanings of the term -- seeps into your soul.
"Dawn blessings" builds upon Bex Burch's xylophone, the bits of other instruments and sounds of the outside world coalescing around that. Flute by Rob Frye (Bitchin Bajas) and violin by Macie Stewart (Ohmme, etc.) provide some heft to the track. Elsehwere, Ben LaMar Gay uses his cornet to give "If I was you, I'd be doing exactly the same" some subtly driving energy, while "Don't go back to sleep" is centered around Burch's xylophone which sounds like a gamelan on this one. There's something gentle yet insistent about these cuts, and the whole album has a natural vibe that is hard to describe in words, but which nods in the direction of earlier records by Jon Hassell and Laraaji, at least for me, in stylistic terms.
There is only love and fear gains real momentum with the more fiery "You thought you were free?" with Burch switching to drums, and Rob Frye adding clarinet to the tune, among other contributors' contributions. The track is more expansive, less naturalistic, with a hint that Bex can dip toes in either genre with ease. This is the rarest sort of record that aids contemplation and also action. There's a lot going on here, with snatches of genres and styles being combined in a unique way, though never forced together. Bex Burch charts a path here that makes this material a natural fit for International Anthem, even as it gently and sometimes forcefully pushes at the label's already expansive vibe. Bold, iconoclastic, and easy to dive into, There is only love and fear by Bex Burch is one of the highlights of this week's slate of releases.
There is only love and fear is out now via International Anthem.
[Photo: Chris Almeida]