Photo: Andreas Hornoff Fotografie
Info: Brooklyn Dekker, who is originally from Dublin, writes that "the songs are not about us per sé, rather snapshots of lives lived, wrestling with the known and unknowns of life and its phenomena; those things we all share". The duo fuse beautifully deft neo-classical piano, combined with close miked vocals which create a certain immediacy.
The pair never set foot in the same studio but wrote 'We Share Phenomena' via iPhone messages. Berlin-based Lambert, a mask-wearing pianist at the fore of the neo-classical movement, and singer Brooklyn Dekker, one-half of acclaimed Anglo-American outfit Rue Royale, describe themselves as a 'ghost' duo who have developed something beyond the sum of their parts.
From the outset, you are struck by the mystical characteristics of Lambert & Dekker's We Share Phenomena, with opener 'The Tug' reflecting in part the same melancholic ambience of an album such as Sufjan Stevens' Carrie & Lowell. 'In an Oblique Way' ratchets that sense up a few notches almost instantly, a classical piano dirge that is like a bellow of dark, cosmic beauty, it's not often it happens, but I did think that this track could so easily work as purely instrumental as well as with vocals, I could actually listen to that piano progression endlessly.
Third track 'Another One' sees the duo switch tempo slightly with a grooving indie-pop overlay, but again delicacy is central, the simple electronic beat trundling whimsically in the background and creating a very care-free atmosphere. Following the gorgeousness of the orchestral 'Manifold' comes 'Tone', it's quite a unique number, tropical sounds accompany a rn'b-style vocal courtesy of Dekker, it's an unassumingly happy moment on the album, a reflection on the fleeting nature of life and acceptance of what has has happened in the past, which will never be ideal no matter what choices we made.
Though it would certainly be an odd fit on that album, I can't shake OK Computer vibes pinging out of 'Bluffing', as the song advances it grows in stature, the vocal carries a sense of hope most eloquently. 'Pliable' is absolutely one of my favourite tracks on the entire album, it unfolds with the most beautiful bloom, the strings are achingly delicate and it has the softest of landings as it draws to an end. 'With Your Own Kind of Swagger' could easily be the soundtrack to a silent animated short, and this is a sense that returns time and again on We Share Phenomena, each song is compatible as a backdrop to whatever story we want it to be.
'Uncivil' is a wonderful end to the album, Keith Jarrett is in the house, by now we are obviously familiar with the course Lambert & Dekker have charted, as the curtain drops to the stage floor, you feel a calmness, you've been provided with more than adequate headspace to drift off inside the music which is wrought in an other-worldly hue. As an entire piece, Lambert and Dekker don't demand that we follow their path, they willingly give free reign for us to explore and feel whatever way we want to feel on We Share Phenomena, making each listen a separate and mystical journey.
Lambert & Dekker perform live at The Bello Bar, Dublin, this Wednesday, 21st of November. Tickets are available via Eventbrite here.
