horizonrecords

The Big Exercise, the second album by Dutch band The Homesick, and their first for Sub Pop, finds the group keenly second-guessing their core chemistry as a live unit, imbuing their angular post-punk workouts with baroque elements such as piano, acoustic guitar, percussion, and even clarinet. �It�s the opposite of trying to translate recorded music to the stage,� guitarist Elias Elgersma comments. �We were already playing these songs live for quite some time, so for this album, we wanted to unlock the potential of these songs further in the studio.� Opening track �What�s In Store� was in part inspired by bassist Jaap Van der Velde�s unprompted deep dive into the world of national anthems, making his own attempt to conjure a similarly timeless melody. The song seamlessly bleeds into the chivalrous prance of �Children�s Day� and the fragmented �Pawing,� righteously encouraging Erik Woudwijk�s nimble, cerebral drumming to become the band�s driving force. The headstrong wanderlust of The Big Exercise is fitting, given The Homesick�s exodus as a small-town Dutch band ready to trot the world. Contrary to the quest for belonging, roots, and provenance found on their debut album, Youth Hunt, the band�s creative trajectory is now dictated by a sense of otherness and imagination. The sharp contrasts are ever-present; the music�s new sonorous depth is underpinned by wry meditations on family ties, alternate realities, and commonplace encounters. As the band�s chief lyricists, Elgersma and Van der Velde deliberately keep each other in the dark, allowing the syntax of words and music to entangle in surprising � sometimes delightfully absurd � ways. �I Celebrate My Fantasy,� for example, summons a mirage of creeping pianos, sylvan clarinet flourishes and cartoonish sprawls with mock-paranoia, as Elgersma documents a macabre vision he had during a mild case of sleep paralysis. True to the band�s method of holding the more mundane, fleeting moments under a magnifying glass, closing track �Male Bonding� pulls a wide range of movements out of the top hat: the album�s rare heavy burst is promptly mediated by almost medieval-sounding prog rock-flirtations. The Homesick have made a record impregnated with impressions that still fit neatly under the pop umbrella. The album title�s nod to Scott Walker - �the big exercise� is a phrase pulled from a passage in Walker�s biography, Deep Shade of Blue - isn�t an aberration either: straddling pop sonority and the cacophonous fringes is something well worth aspiring.