No Time For Poetry

With their first three albums, the Saxophones -- married couple Alexi Erenkov (vocals, woodwinds) and Alison Alderdice (drums, backing vocals) with multi-instrumentalist Richard Laws -- have established a haunting and dreamy, lightly jazz-inflected style of minimalist indie pop that evokes smoky back rooms, seaside reflection, romance, and the analog era. Their fourth LP, No Time for Poetry, finds them applying their loungey, distinctly intimate style to political themes (and song titles like "Americas the Victim") as well as the personal, with Erenkov having said that they used mid-period Leonard Cohen as a touchstone for the record. The resulting dystopian atmospheres and often dry, knowing vocal deliveries, along with slightly more expansive, synthy arrangements -- Frank Maston lent a hand on production -- make for a deeper artistic statement. After a timeless and universe-less introductory track in "Too Big for California," "Winter Moon" adopts a tango-esque beat as part of a desolate soundscape consisting of rim clicks, slinky bass, vibraphone, and the occasional saxophone. Overtop this, Erenkov issues deadpan lines like "The fun has just begun/Cant you feel it everywhere?/I think I smell smoke/Or is it just despair?" Later in the track list, the dramatic interlude "I Fought the War," with its descending pitch bends, ominous synth bass, and tubular bells, offers the reflection: "I fought the war inside my mind/I thought I left it all behind/Now Im so much older/I can look upon disorder/And still feel absolutely fine." That song leads into the more kosmische-informed "At Peace with Power," which takes the perspective of a tyrant who only wants more and to feel good about it. Guitarist Indigo Street is featured on "Wayward Men" ("destined to live alone"), giving the sleek, keyboard-based tune a touch of grit alongside live drums. The albums closing title track combines a solo lounge act with Badalamenti-like longing synths to apocalyptic effect, as the isolated protagonist delivers lines including "Theres no time for poetry/Theres barely time for war" and "Have you seen the new guillotine?/Town square will never be the same" that are representative of a set of songs that is both otherworldly and timely. ~ Marcy Donelson