When Austin-based experimental musician
Roger Sellers decided to adopt the moniker
Bayonne in 2016, it was to reflect a shift in his music from an acoustic folk-core to lusher electronic sounds -- though he always combined the two. His
Bayonne debut,
Primitives, relied heavily on keyboard and vocal loops, layering consistently gentle timbres alongside atmospheric synths and acoustic percussion. His even more ambitious follow-up expands upon that technique, especially in terms of the scope of its layering. Titled
Drastic Measures, its building-block loops are presented not in duplicate or triplicate but well beyond, like a collage with organized patterns of repeated images. The word "organized" is important because
Sellers' dreamy indie electronica embraces pop song structures here more than ever before. That includes the soaring title track, whose intricate percussion, repeated keyboard motifs, blended guitar, gently shifting sustained chords, airy vocals, and countermelodies, all point toward an exhilarated chorus that takes flight on phrases like "natural pleasures" and "taking drastic measures for a ride." Much of the self-produced record (which does include some guest instrumentalists) continues in kind, with animated rhythms and modest chord progressions established before the songs gather sonic momentum, making it harder and harder to parse individual components. The mood remains dreamy and refined throughout, however, never venturing into agitation or harsher noise -- at its most chaotic, some of the more otherworldly song intros and outros blend improvisation and glistening effects with field recordings. In a couple minor breaks from this formula, the spacy folk of "Kind" takes things down a notch without interrupting the reverie, and closing track "Bothering" allows space for coherent piano chords and vocal melody, at least before it temporarily drifts into the stratosphere midway through. Ultimately,
Drastic Measures is more distinctive and memorable for its unique textures than things like melodies and grooves, although its more organized songs forms give them something tangible to adhere to. ~ Marcy Donelson