BnB Review: Barem – After The Storm

Written by Manu Ekanayake

Barem comes up trumps with a debut that proves it is still possible to make a minimal-tech album that sounds fresh. Hear our thoughts after the jump…

 

 

 

To be honest, our first impressions of this album weren't great. More minimal-tech, eh? And with a pretentious title & concept too? It ‘represents that fleeting moment when nature puts it house in order’, does it? Oh dear… it really didn’t look good for Senor Barembuem (aka Barem).

However, we’re ready to admit we were wrong about this one. Barem’s got a promising first release on his hands which moves from the panting, unsettling intro of There to the more pumped-up percussive sounds of Nothing and the minimal starkness of Better to the deeper grooves of A. And yes, the track titles are still more than a little pretentious, but we’ll put that down to freshman exuberance and leave it at that.

The highlights of After The Storm probably have to be Than and After The Storm itself, the final track. Both manage to combine a real sense of melody with deceptive simplicity; with the former showing how synths should be used and the latter showing how warm electronic music can sound when it’s done properly.

Our verdict:

The thing about this album is that it all hangs together as a whole – it’s not just a selection of club bangers. So maybe we can forgive that track titles… a decent debut.

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