Brother Rutherford – Tunneling (2019)

Brother Rutherford’s Tunneling is like stepping into a botanical garden that hasn’t been tended for decades – the air is hazy and vegetative and the vegetation is wildly overrunning their planters. Near the front door, you’re still in the sun – cue the shimmering synths and beautifully understated bass solo of the opener ‘Light Guides’. As you push the creepers aside and move in deeper, (‘Tangled Ceremony’, ‘East Winds’) the air becomes dark and heavy, at times almost sinister. But there are wonders too – the contemplative drift of ‘Alizarin Skyline’

Brother Rutherford’s first worth doesn’t follow the route of many math bands in attempting to dazzle with over-technicality, though it is impeccably performed. Each track instead conjures an immersive and alluring musical landscape, surfaces new instrumentation and musical ideas, and keeps the album evolving but cohesive.