REVIEW: Jude Brothers -- render tender / blunder sunder
Over the course of nine tracks, Jude Brothers creates a new home for themselves both sonically and emotionally as they take listeners with them on a journey through the end of a relationship and a rebirth of self. Their honest and beautifully rendered lyrics will resonate with anyone who has experienced heartbreak and the remnants of self left in its wake.
Jude Brothers recorded this album in New Mexico in just two days. Stripped bare of the echoing production of their last album, & The Concrete Dragonfly, the spare nature of render tender / blunder sunder leaves room for the lyrics to shine as they reckon with forging a new identity. The overall experience of the album reminded me of Adrienne Lenker’s most recent solo album, songs/instrumentals (2020), also recorded in isolation both physical and emotional, on the other side of a heartbreak. Both albums weave in the sounds of their environments, leave room for some of the imperfections of recording to remain.
Jude Brothers’ album feels even more raw than Lenker’s, and their vocals reflect the searching nature of the work as their performance ranges from near whispered musings to raw soaring vocals. Similarly, their reflections on heartbreak personify the duality of such a loss – bursts of confidence and self possession, followed by an immediate swerve back into uncertainty and longing. The fourth track, “torch bare / the boss!” was a standout for me. It seems to be the turning point in the album from trying to hang on to the remnants of love, no matter how painful, to the freedom of letting go. Even over the course of the song they move from wondering about their ex and how they’re doing, to declaring in the final verse, “your torchbearer no more! / I weren’t the spark you’re looking for! /my hands they are tired! / my knuckles are charred! / your torchbearer no more! / cause now i only dance in the dark.”
The final track, “last song / upper gallinas!” reflects on the relationship with some distance, or the promise of future distance, an imagined future were the relationship’s dissolution doesn’t feel so raw. The last line of the song, “Is this the last song I’m singing for you?” could be addressed to Jude Brothers’ estranged lover, but also to the version of themselves they made in the gulf created by their love’s absence, and this stirring album reveals what a rich gulf it is.
