When Amber Webber hums “and I woke up in between” in “Night Walks,” a song from Canadian band Black Mountain’s new album “In the Future,” perhaps she is referring to Black Mountain’s fusion-based style. Combining 70s classic rock with a hodgepodge of other genres, “In the Future” has a rather deceptive title.
The album opens with “Stormy High,” featuring Vancouver natives Stephen McBean and Webber in a series of Led Zeppelin emulations, plummeting down from high octaves. A drum and guitar loop sets the song’s energetic tone while supporting the strong vocals.
Black Mountain first shows its comprehensive style when the band shifts from the hard-rock “Stormy High” into acoustic pieces like “Angels” and “Stay Free.” While McBean strums the guitar solos, Webber’s voice dominates the tracks. She remains in the foreground throughout the eight-minute-long “Tyrants,” in which Webber emulates Janis Joplin’s soulful blues.
After “Tyrants,” “In the Future” becomes even more eclectic. “Wucan” sounds psychedelic, featuring a winding keyboard line that creates a space-like ambiance. “Wild Wild” has a sad pang, mirroring David Bowie’s “Space Oddity.” This number doesn’t seem to belong on the album but exemplifies the immense diversity throughout “In the Future.”
“Bright Lights,” an epic 16-minute-long song, wraps up the album with risky, but beautiful buildups and fall-outs. The words “bright lights” are repeated throughout, resonating like a religious mantra.
“In the Future” touts Black Mountain’s varied styles, but the band wasn’t always so experimental. Black Mountain was originally one band of the Black Mountain Army, a group of musicians, artists and friends from Vancouver brought together by McBean. Black Mountain, then called Jerk with a Bomb, emphasized a classic rock style while another Black Mountain Army band, Pink Mountaintops, emphasized a more avant-garde and improvisational style.
Black Mountain became more stylistically diverse when Webber joined the band, adding a New-Age feminine voice, along with bassists Jeremy Schmidt and Matt Camirand and drummer Joshua Wells. Jerk with a Bomb renamed itself Black Mountain. Though Pink Mountaintops is still performing, Black Mountain is now the Black Mountain Army’s premier band.
Black Mountain is touring Canada and the United States through April. Tour dates for Brooklyn and Manhattan are scheduled for late February.
Listeners can sit back as this Canadian rock band takes them along on its journey from the past into its very promising “future.”
Tour dates and videos can be found at http://www.blackmountainarmy.com/.
