Catalogue Number: TLV094

Release Date: 31st March 2017

Brooch is the glimmering spinoff of a tour that Ben Stidworthy and Mikkel Holm Silkjær did together with their bands, Montreal’s Ought and Aarhus’ Yung. Their first offering of two songs are like the people behind them: youthful and yet already wise, cold-hearty and yet with ripe with a primrose melodicism. “Blood Spitting” and “Broken Glass” are an expertly crafted pair of rock songs, but ones that maintain that burgeoning kind of playfulness that comes from a new collaboration.

The tracks were recorded over two days in Aarhus, DK in November 2015. Ben continues, as he does in Ought, to play bass like a craftsman makes a fine chair and expands his palate to not only lush organ playing but also whispery and emotive vocals. Mikkel, Yung’s principal songwriter, continues to show off his multi-instrumentalism as he offers guitar, drums and, as he does in Yung, vocals.

In “Blood Spitting”, Ben shows his poetic heart atop a crisp and revolving drum and guitar melody that recalls the quietest moments of And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out-era Yo La Tengo. And yet a tender edginess appears lyrically: “For the blood spitting and vertigo,” he sings “these days are muddled by dust.” It is a striking juxtaposition, the lush organ tones with words such as this. It alone almost conjures the cold room they recorded in: a few beer bottles clattering on the cement while a soft cough, visible breath and a smile break the quiet between takes.

Mikkel answers on his side of the pair with a distinctly piercing and yet lush vocal presence. “Broken Glass” features violin from the duo’s friend Lena Geue which balances the more rugged bass tone and chugging, almost off-kilter rhythm of the thing. “A see-through window is not a rare sight, but a shattered one will leave blood behind,” replies Mikkel beyond his warbly and fierce guitar line.

These are both songwriters who know when to leave space, when to sustain a moment, and yet are unafraid to play ornamentally. It is a rich collaboration, bursting at the edges when you take stock of who these songwriters are, and yet contained here in a small capsule that introduces us to their voices together. It is a bit like a brooch, in that way, something they would both wear in real life. I’d wear this 7” on my jacket. And with songs like this for the kindling of a project, it’s pretty exciting to think about what happens next.

Tim Darcy, Montreal, October 2016

A. Blood Spitting
AA. Broken Glass