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The first of the really summery albums has just arrived, and it’s only mid-February, in the form of the eponymous first release by Broadcast 2000. Another in a long line of multi-instrumentalists, we see Joe Steer on vocals, backing vocals, glockenspiel, ukulele and many other random merry-sounding instruments in order to deliver an album filled with enough hope and optimism to possibly raise a smile on the most cynical of folk.
Granted the market of solo multi-instrumentalists has become increasingly crowded with the likes of Sufjan Stevens, Natasha Khan and Annie Clark, but London-born Steer may have something different to bring to the table through the employment of a sound that resembles a mix between I’m Not From Barcelona, the Sufjan Stevens Christmas album and songs ‘Wake Up’ and ‘Neighborhood #3’ by Arcade Fire. Not only is his music relentlessly cheerful and feel good but it has such a well placed style of production, meaning that whilst it sounds polished, it never borders on the generic. Here the variety of vocal layers is mixed with such a rich tapestry of instruments (most of which, by the sounds of it, would be probably found beneath his bed) that the resultant sound is complex in construction and yet never feels cluttered, every flourish placed with precision.
From the first thirty seconds of opener ‘Rouse Your Bones’, there are many who will immediately wonder what the message behind this music is and possibly where the nearest drum circle can be found. There may also be some who will endeavour to find a method to hate such an album who’s only agenda is to bring joy. However, by the time you reach ‘Gonna Build A Mountain’ the album is truly in full swing and most likely converted you to this optimism of ‘I don’t know how I’m gonna do it, I only know I’m gonna try’ at the concept of building daydreams from hope and mountains out of hills. If you accidentally have this album on repeat, which is an accident of the happy kind, you will find yourself sucked into Joe Steer’s world which closely resembles the freedom and happiness found in the simple log cabin model on the album cover.
At a running length of little over half an hour this album is a neatly wrapped package and makes the great move of keeping it short enough to leave us wanting more but not too short as to make it ridiculous. By doing so Broadcast 2000 ends up acting as the musical equivalent of the bite of a chocolate bar whereby we can indulge a little, savour it and acts to perfectly satisfy our craving. That is until the next time when we can start the album once more and enjoy the experience all the more, since it never feels extraneous.
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