Brutus - 'Nest' Album Review

Tracklist:

1. Fire

2. Django

3. Cemetery

4. Techno

5. Carry

6. War

7. Blind

8. Distance

9. Space

10. Horde V

11. Sugar Dragon

I like music that makes me feel uncomfortable, odd I know but there you go!

Brutus does that from the first notes onwards of their album 'Nest'. Imagine The Sugarcubes if they were still going now, but better? Album opener 'Fire' is sugar and spice, claustrophobic like being wrapped really tightly in a fleece blanket. It’s too tight but damned if the fabric doesn’t feel so good.

As 'Django' opens up I’m feeling on edge, with an unexplainable unease. Brutus are both melodic yet jarring, I’m hearing something of Bloc Party in their arrangements. Track three 'Cemetery' has just started and oh boy it’s a belter, they’ve just turned the intensity up a notch. It’s got some fire in its belly by golly. I also love the way the songs are finishing very abruptly, none of this lingering on too long not knowing when to finish.

As I slip into track four 'Techno', Evil Blizzard spring into my mind. Not that they sound remotely similar but they do give me the same anxious feeling, it’s like a feeling of impending doom. I suspect that 'Nest' is going to feature heavily in my playlists in the not too distant future. 'Techno' by the way builds to a brutal end, brilliant!

Blimey this album is getting better with each track, they are without exception the exact length they need to be, the album is just growing with intensity. My head may explode after this. Track six 'War' proves that you can be intense even with a ballad, It has a beautiful edginess to it, fragile vocals over a gentle soundtrack that suddenly bursts into a frenetic wall of sound. Is there nothing Brutus can’t do?

I could wax lyrical all night about 'Nest' but I’m going to take a leaf out of Brutus’s book and end when I’ve said all that needs to be said. 'Nest' by Brutus gets five stars, you should buy it.