Seldom can an artist create a sound that is both ethereal and original, but Brookville's debut album "Wonderfully Nothing" sculpts introspective, melodic soundscapes as prettily on the record as it does in concert. Brookville, touring with the United Kingdom's Goldfrapp, played the first show of its tour last Wednesday night at the 9:30 club.
The band played for about 80 people, a much larger crowd than its audience at its first two gigs, according to frontman Andy Chase. Cornered backstage outside his dressing room, Chase said, "Three people were at our first show in New Jersey and six at our second in Philadelphia."
The D.C. show marked a homecoming for Chase. "I used to sneak into the old 9:30 club," he said while Goldfrapp mounted its thumping audio assault. Chase, a Bethesda, MD native, derived the band's name from the suburban street where he spent his childhood.
"Wonderfully Nothing" is primarily the creation of Chase, a sound engineer by trade and a member of the band Ivy, which also features Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne. The textured, ambient sound of the album, which uses familiar chords to make unique arrangements, reveals his experience.
Chase's purpose with the album was to "create a sonic landscape" that came naturally to him. "If you are aware of it, it isn't real," he said. When asked about his influences, Chase rattled off the names Alpha, Air, Chemical Brothers, Sigur Ros and Prefab Sprout.
In "Wonderfully Nothing," intentional over-production creates sonic density; strings melt into distorted guitar solos backed by sweeping synthesizer riffs. Five of the 13 tracks are instrumental and slowly grow and evolve on the strength of the images they evoke. Brookville's production bears some resemblance to bands like Stereolab, Mogwai and Squarepusher, but with an individual tone. The personal lyrics mirror the dreamy quality of Chase's sound, sometimes with a melancholy outcome.
In "Walking On Moonlight," the chorus reads "I find you there walking on moonlight / Your perfect face now much too thin / ... You'll never see what you could have been." Chase explained that the song was "about a friend who kind of slipped through the cracks."
The track "Sweet Sensation" takes on a playful mood. Chase sings, "It's just a sweet sensation coming over me / I'm going to breathe this silence while we don't speak / Drifting off, so absorbed in the way you move."
A bit of irony also finds its way into the album: The last track is titled "This is How it Ends."
Brookville put on a stellar performance. Opening with "Fleet" and "Walking On Moonlight," the band brought out the jazz sound latent on the studio album. Chase, who looked the part of consummate rock star, received support from Cyril Moisson on bass, Jean Pierre Ensuque on lead guitar, Jeremy Adelman on keyboard and laptop, and Marty Beller on percussion. When asked how it felt to perform his own lyrics, Chase said, "Sometimes I need a TelePrompTer."
Sound loops and samples from the album deftly filled out the subtle ambiance of songs like "Beautiful View" and "Justine." Guitarist Ensuque used an e-bow sound distortion utility on his guitar to create surreal pop sounds supplemented by low blue and red lighting. Adleman left his keys for a trumpet solo on "This is the Last Time," which came to an intense climax before Chase brought the band back for an up-tempo conclusion to its set with "This is How it Ends." In concert, a driving, jazzy feel that would benefit from more improvisation replaces the delicate sense of "Wonderfully Nothing" on record. For those with a taste for ambient rock who seek a less mainstream sound, seek out "Wonderfully Nothing" at the local record store.
For more information on Brookville, check out www.unfilteredrecords.com.