By Alain Drouot | Published December 2018
By now, the Australian trio’s music has garnered a solid reputation. And true to their habit, The Necks’ new recording consists of one single epic composition. However, four clearly distinct sections emerge.
The first one is typical. Drummer Tony Buck sustains a hard-driven tempo, bassist Lloyd Swanton maintains a simple heartbeat and pianist Chris Abrahams literally tickles the keys of his piano to provide the unique variations through single-note arpeggios or progressions. The music then dissolves into a more open sequence, where piano and bass are intertwined in a pulse, while a dripping organ and strummed guitar ebb and flow. (Buck and Abrahams often overdubbed to provide a full and expansive backdrop.) Then, the music swells before breaking into a hard-rocking frontal assault. This is where Body begins providing a different experience and offers some unsuspected moments. Front and center is Buck’s screaming electric guitar, which creates a wall of sound backed by a trio tightly locked in a pattern dominated by a banged five-note piano motif. This segment ends almost as abruptly as it began, moving toward a contemplative mood. For those who might lose their patience with The Necks’ modus operandi, Body could encourage further investigations of their take on minimalism and trance music.
Body: Body. (56:42)
Personnel: Chris Abrahams, piano, keyboards; Lloyd Swanton, bass; Tony Buck, drums, percussion, guitar.
