bdrmm Take a Dip Into Synth-Rock With ‘Infinity Peaking’

There is always a particular kind of excitement which comes with getting a first look at what a new album is going to be like, especially when the album comes from a band with a flair for experimentation. The two long players delivered thus far by bdrmm have made it abundantly clear that the Hull alternative outfit is not one to shy away from the treading of new paths, and there is an additional curiosity in the career junction that is the third album. 

A debut might be a tentative venture into untrodden grounds; a sophomore album is often scrutinised for signs of maturity; but a third record can be a make-or-break moment, in which an artist can show an ability to open new pathways and deliver something different – yet faithful to an original voice – or rather an excessive attachment to the tried-and-tested. 

The release of a new bdrmm single out of upcoming album ‘Microtonic’ – announced for late February – taps straight into all of these expectations, and delivers a very clear answer to the question. The band has made it clear, after all, that this single is a snapshot of where they are with their artistic research at the moment; and where they are is quite evidently at the start of a new chapter in the development of their sound.

The first, rather pressing instinct, upon first listening to ‘Infinity Peaking’, is to describe it as synth-rock. The electronic components of the track are certainly dominant, much more than they have been in the band’s previous offering; there is even a purely EDM streak running through the entire almost six minutes. Even before the drums come in and set the rhythm, the first thing to hit the ears is a rather pointed distortion, and soon after the sound expands into something broader and ever so slightly trippy that owes more than a bit to the synth-rock glories of the 80s. This is not, however, a nostalgic single, and synth-rock is not all that it is. Both in its overall atmosphere and especially in the delivery of the smooth, inward-looking vocals, there is an element of shoegaze to it that contributes majorly to its personality. The overall atmosphere evoked by the track is an almost floating one, soothing but with an undercurrent of disquiet. The softness of the overall composition contrasts with the ever-present ripple of synth to suggest that this dreaminess is not necessarily a fully positive one: “I feel that I’m losing my way”, the lyrics repeat, and indeed there is a lingering feeling of becoming lost in the music, or possibly sinking into it.

This is one of the advantages of injecting such a strong element of electronica into what is essentially a pop-rock structure (some parts are reminiscent, upon further listening, of some of Richard Ashcroft’s solo work, for instance, both in structure and in treatment of the vocals); there is no other kind of sound that is so immediately effective in evoking this trance-like sensation in the listener, and it is easy to imagine that this feeling might be amplified even further in a live setting, especially with the right kind of lighting and in a more intimate venue. But there is another kind of experimentation also – another kind of restlessness – in this track that emerges in the more lively, and more erratic, flow of the instrumental bridge, something that has almost prog-rock elements to it and which whets an inevitable curiosity about what else the upcoming album might have in store.

This is, it might be argued, the ultimate purpose of a preview single: to make listeners curious about what is to come next. As an established band whose name comes now inevitably with a certain amount of expectations, bdrmm have fully delivered on awakening this curiosity. But even without it, ‘Infinity Peaking’ is a beautifully atmospheric, immersive track that comes across very aptly named for the breadth of its sound.

Chiara Strazzulla

@cstrazzull

Image: ‘Infinity Peaking’ Official Single Cover

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