“It was the nightingale and not the lark” - well, it surely wasn’t a tank and a ramrod, even though one might argue that you can hear all four things on the latest record by Author & Punisher, welcome to Nocturnal Birding!
After hearing the new A&P tracks for the first time a few weeks ago, they were endlessly imprinted on my brain, more specifically it felt as if they had been branded onto my frontal cortex. The songs are as addictive as nearly all tracks that Tristan has even put out - and there are several reasons for that.
One should assess first, that there is less Shoegaze on these eight tracks than on Krüller, the record preceeding this, dating back from 2022. But then again, how more melodic and more finely chiselled can a record open than with “Meadowlark” that features some wonderfully low-key piano chords, clean vocals and the first indicator of why the record seemingly has a connection to birdwatching, on this opening track you can hear the namesaking bird in the background before the powerful chords emerge again and the whole thing then becomes a kind of more industrialized version of a classical Vangelis or Carpenter soundtrack.
But let’s get back to the birdsong because the animals play an important part for the whole record, as one can encounter real field recordings of birdsong or emulated version where Tristan and his bandmate Doug are trying to turn the birdsong into an amplified version taking the melodic structure of the original animal. This way, A&P are able to establish a version of these tracks without sticking to its natural version, it’s basically the industrial (or cultural) version of a natural element, and thus one of the key elements of the A&P sound. Having Doug on board more frequently also gives more possibilities to the tracks, so that the two guys can play with the distribution of their instruments and change lines and much more.
But Doug (whom we already interviewed for his other project PLQ MRX) is not the only contributing to the record. The trio of “Titanis”, “Mute Swan” and “Black Storm Petrel” features artists as diverse as the powerhouse (in achronological order) FANGE, the amazing Megan Oztrosits (of Couch Slut fame) and, most interestingly, Kuntari from Indonesia. Kuntari create what they call “Primal-core” trying to come up with animal calls and sounds and using a highly percussive approach which blew Tristan so away on his track to Indonesia that he simply had to collaborate with them on “Titanis” which is an experiment done to perfection because both worlds, the primal and the technological, connect so well, that one might need to infer a kind of mechanical soul as the connecting point.
When “Mute Swan” and Megan’s vocal contribution comes next one is immediately reminded of Krüller but with a tidbit more ferociousness. We find ourselves in an Ambient thunderstorm that seems to offer no escape, albeit, no one wants to. When Tristan’s hushed up clean vocals come up at the end, I even had a little Peter Gabriel-feeling, as if the master of World Music had set down and given Tristan some idea of how to modulate his voice to sounds like an amalgan of “Games without Frontiers” and a little bit like Gabriel’s version of “The Book of Love”.
The collaboration that at first glance might make most sense is the FANGE addition on “Black Storm Petrel” because they play similar soccer stadiums as A&P, yet one might not be prepared for the additional rush of blood that this track offers. The artwork is the result of another amazing collaboration and this time it’s with our friend Lucille Lejoly who came up with something unusual for herself and that is an artwork which is basically a photo of bird. Before anybody asks how this infusion of birdsong came about, why the collabs took place and why Tristan might be one of the best persons in this niche of ours - we can only advice you to listen to our interview with Tristan, which you can find here.
Before I give away too many descriptions of why this record is a mighty important step in Tristan’s work, why he has outdone himself once again, why this record is such a grower even though simultaneously grabbing you by the throat - please sit down and listen to these 35 minutes! You surely will be rewarded with a record that is immediate and longlasting. Nature and culture, industrial yet soulful. It’s Author & Punisher.
