TALK MEMORY: ALBUM REVIEW
Toronto supergroup Badbadnotgood, also known as BBNG, has never been afraid to fuse genres and be unequivocally different from their peers. The group can best be defined as a few dudes who all share an avid love for Miles Davis, Odd Future, and The Legend of Zelda. Through these shared passions and companionship, the trio went from posting covers of their favorite songs on Youtube to collaborating with their favorite artists on Grammy-nominated bodies of work.
During the decade since their formation as a band, they evolved from a trio to a four-man ensemble. Assembling collaborators from multiple pools of talent and creating award-winning production, BBNG has reached a point in its career where its touch in production is instantly recognizable and revered. Growing from their days of making mixtapes of covers, the group’s latest release provides classical jazz revamped into an imaginative listening experience that transcends sound into individual pockets of cinematic moments.
Drenched in style, atmosphere, and the same dark & moody tone the band has associated with their name, Talk Memory brings the same energy and focus from previous titles. Though it’s been a whopping five years since their last project as a collective, Talk Memory sounds like a straight continuation from the last closing track of their previous album with Besides April sounding sonically like a direct sequel to IV’s Cashmere
The band was at peak success in 2016, with an album garnering Album of The Year awards and number one singles, such as their production on Daniel Caesar’s Get You. But shortly after, the group’s members began taking on their own paths.
In their near five-year intermission, each member sought space to accomplish their own goals. Keyboardist Matty Taveres went solo to produce ambient pop by the name Matty. Bandleader and drummer Alexander Sowinski as well as saxophonist Leland Witty also tried their hand in contemporary jazz records and film soundtracks.
Though the band diverged as its members took on individual projects and touring, all of them reconvened once again to focus on the next chapter of their professional career as a collective (though Taveres would only return as a writer for the latest album).
This album feels more like an immediate continuation than a reunion. A return to form akin to a time skip in an anime.
Signal from the Noise is the perfect opener for the album as it sets up what listeners can expect from the project as a whole. An isolated, cinematic experience that slowly exposes a story told through haunting piano keys and guitar melodies that rise and fall as the song continues. Its echoing horns in the final two minutes delve deep into the psyche, creating an uneasy sensation along the skin. Yet, this feeling is somehow comforting as the sounds dwindle and smoothly transition into the next track.
The following song takes that unnerved sensation of discomfort and forces the listener not just to tackle the feeling but challenge a change in tone, creating something beyond sound. The sax and zither presented by Laraanji on Unfolding accompanied by the soft yet booming drums and light tingles in the background create this surreal and motionless image in your brain— it’s as if you’re sitting in an art-house with an expose all around you at a standstill. Then all of a sudden, everything is blurry in the most bizarre and cool way.
The album has a much stronger start than finish with the latter sacrificing most of the dark gritty moods established in the first half for a more grandiose and bold presence. Though the album sacrifices this darker atmosphere, each song is consistent in its theme and tone creating a pocket of emotion that punches hard in an individual listening.
BBNG doesn’t include any vocal features on this album, which is a shame because IV established some wonderful frequent collaborators with timeless additions from Charlotte Day Wilson to Sam Herring. But the group ditches the singers for more mature guest instrumentalists, such as Brazilian producer Arthur Verocai, who contributes to over half the songs on the album.
Ambient legend Laraanji and jazz harpist Brandee Younger also make wonderful appearances on the album, and so does ambient producer Floating Points on the album opener.
BBNG doesn’t fail to remember its roots of playing Tyler the Creator & Waka Waka Flame covers in their basement. Monumental figures in hip hop production such as the likes of Karriem Riggins and Terrace Martin provide their soulful touch on the second single off the album Beside April and the album closer Talk Meaning.
I will say, Terrace Martin and BBNG is one of those collaborations I never knew I needed until I saw the tracklist for the album, yet Martin’s talents are near unrecognizable on the collaboration, which was disappointing, to say the least.
Talk Memory represents a pivotal moment, taking inspiration from its creative roots while simultaneously constructing a bridge to a future you never could’ve imagined before now. The album closer Talk Meaning prepares one final pocket experience with each instrument playing in what feels like the finale in a concert hall. The orchestration followed by the determined drums creates the feeling that this group has the final destination in sight, with the goal of showcasing their prowess and synergy in mind.
Though the song doesn’t provide the same atmospheric display of gritty, dreamy jazz as their last album closer, Cashmere, this final song creates a sonically sound and soft sensation of closure through the final minute being played off note by note by Verocai’s lucid picking of chords.
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These are no longer some music head kids from Canada in their basement doing covers of Gucci Mane's Lemonade. These are mature masters of their craft creating art from a culmination of over ten years of love, passion, and admiration into a harmonious soundtrack to the next chapter of their adult lives.
In an interview last year on WorldWide FM, while talking about the new album, Sowinski described it as “what the music will represent—a path forward, and changing and growing.” Talk Memory represents a moment of clarity while simultaneously containing the chaos of the world around you. Sticking to your roots while embracing change, not just with one foot forward, but with three.