Bike - Arte Bruta (Before Sunrise Records)

Despite taking their name from such an everyday apparatus, Bike are a band from outside conformity. They are wonderfully genre-fluid, wandering between everything from psychedelia and more idiosyncratic Afro-Brazilian soundscapes, rock and pop-like soundscaping, progressive realm, and cinematic scores. They also appear to be timeless in that given the complex and cosmic blends of music that they create, it is impossible to put a date on their music. It is their willingness not to pander to fad or fashion, which means that they are truly free to explore sound without restriction, something that they do brilliantly on Arte Bruta.

And it is their sense of identity, their own Brazillian-ness, for want of a better term, which has been brought to the fore for this, their fifth album, although if anyone is looking for neat musical packages that easily reflect the sounds and styles of South America, will not find them, at least not lying in easily accessible fashion on the surface of the record. I’m sure that such reference points are in there, the beating heart of the music being made here, but this series of short, sharp, and shockingly good tracks, many well under the three-minute mark, are so deftly wrought, so intricately laced together, so cleverly conceived and so original and adventurous, that it is hard to see the music as anything other than genuinely unique.

Some of the tracks conform to the more traditional idea of a song, such as “Filha Do Vento”, an ornate yet accessible single, there are more meandering and beguiling tracks, such as “Santa Cabeça”, which take much longer to reveal their hypnotic beauty, and there are short interludes such as “A Queda do Céu” which are both fleeting and fascinating.

Bike are a rare sonic treat. A band making music on their own terms, devoid of the need to follow convention and free of pressure from the powers that be, following only their own head and heart, and I also suspect soul, to create the music that they feel compelled to make, music which is the purest form of expression for them.

If only all bands could be this brave.

Arte Bruta LP
Spotify
Santa Cabeça
Filha Do Vento
O Torto Santo