With a sonic character that’s easily distinctive but defying pigeonholing, Burnt Belief has been the perfect distillation of the talents of guitarist Jon Durant and former Porcupine Tree bassist Colin Edwin. Is it prog rock? New Age? Ambient? Miminalism? Or how about fusion jazz? It’s all of these and more, but not wholly any of them. Yet, Durant and Edwin make that elusiveness the core of their music’s appeal; this mystical quality that pervades everything they do entices the listener.
Mutual Isolation is Burnt Belief’s first offering since 2016’s Emergent, and a few things have changed for this go around. For one, Edwin goes entirely unplugged and plays double bass all throughout. That’s a big leap into the abyss for a project known for its electronically-enhanced textures.
Durant, for his part, still employs his signature ‘cloud guitar’ approach but this time, the initial ideas he applies toward the songs aren’t tweaked any further, placing his work much closer to spontaneity, another high-risk, high-reward measure that almost always rewards the highly creative.
What hasn’t changed from before is that drummer Vinny Sabatino is retained, which seems to be the right move given how Sabatino has worked well within Edwin’s and Durant’s concepts on past BB records.
Looking at the title of “Where It All Began (For TR)” it immediately becomes clear upon listening who is “TR,” as this open and freewheeling track is obviously inspired by Norwegian guitar phenom Terje Rypdal in general and his masterful Odyssey and Waves LP’s specifically. A guest trumpet from Estonian sensation Aleksei Saks sounding much like Palle Mikkelborg only adds to the similarity.
If you could pick a track to release as a single from Mutual Isolation, “Month of Moonlight” would be the choice, with its catchy melody and more concise running time. But there’s still a lot for prog rock aficionados to like, starting Durant’s legato lines and Edwin forming a tight ‘n’ funky cadence with Sabatino.
On “Rosso Portofino,” Edwin characteristically understands the impact of notes not played, not just ones that are; the bass patterns he created leave a lot of ambient space in which Saks and Durant freely operate.
Within the areas of sounds and styles Burnt Belief operate, they are nonetheless able to make each track its own entity. “Resistential” goes in more nu-jazz/new age direction not too unlike Nils Petter Molvær, but with enough organic elements that keeps the song tethered to humanity. Durant’s guitar workout on “Perilous Terrain” reveals interest in African and Indian music forms and the band as a whole effortlessly melds Saharan influences into Western contemporary styles on “Divine Rascal.” “Precipitation” gets by solely on a slinky, slow groove put together by Edwin, Sabatino and guest percussionist Andi Pupato.
The protracted closing piece “Expanse” unfolds slowly as a repeating, hypnotic figure breathes in and breathes out with Durant pouring on layers of atmospherics that’s calming but also brimming with intricacies.
You wouldn’t think that the lush and detailed sound Burnt Belief is known for would survive the relative ‘back to basics’ treatment it received for their latest project, but on Mutual Isolation the music actually takes another step forward in their progression. That’s all due to the limitless creativity and musicianship of Colin Edwin and Jon Durant.
Mutual Isolation is now available at all the usual outlets, including Bandcamp.
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