Nashville – It’s difficult to pin down Breakfast In Fur, a four-piece outfit from New Paltz, NY. To put it simply, the group is soft-spoken but powerful, and their newest album, Flyaway Garden (via Bar/None), is certainly no exception. As ethereal as the title suggests, their full-length debut is a dreamy escape that combines whimsy with woodsy and disorder with elegance. The album whispers rather than roars, but that’s not to say it isn’t completely mind-blowing—in fact, Flyaway Garden’s delicate arrangements progress softly but leave a gigantic impression.
Though it sounds like an oxymoron to say that these soft, lo-fi sounds have an intensely high-definition quality, it’s true—no detail is left untended in Flyaway Garden. The result is a sparkling, spectacular showcase of work that is unparalleled in sharpness. With so many different elements, instruments, clips, and feelings at play within the album’s set, it would seem that everything would disintegrate into chaos. But Breakfast In Fur are far more skilled and far more detail oriented, and their sound—with all its myriad facets—emerges immaculately polished. Like a spiraling, infinite fractal, the album’s careful, intricate arrangement is shrouded in a deceptive simplicity.
Sylvan though it may be, Flyaway Garden shines with a diamond-like perfection—expertly cut and entirely brilliant. Introverted but intelligent, there’s a satisfying sense of order that weaves its way through the 15-song set. “Portrait” moves with such a fine calculation that the song is positively trance-like in its progression. As each new instrument or vocal element is folded into the mix, it finds its place in line and proceeds accordingly. Nothing falls out of place, nothing is jarring, and the only thing surprising about the song is how happily it swings along in its careful measurement.
Not everything, however, is entirely clean cut. There’s a continuing, oblong sense of growth at work within the album, and nature seems to play a big part in Flyaway Garden. Many songs call to mind natural settings via bird chirps and other ambient sounds, while others emulate the vast beauty of outer space. The first cut off Flyaway Garden, “Shape,” simply radiates with the energy of pure, dappled sunshine. In this song, springtime is translated into sound as the piano hammers out an upbeat, carefree rhythm. It blooms as it progresses with a jaunty tambourine and echoing vocals that are reminiscent of Caribou, or even Animal Collective.
Both experimental and refined, this album operates within a realm all of its own—a place where spontaneity can easily coexist with order, and where the earthly meets the extraterrestrial. The sounds and melodies present within the album are nothing if not dreamlike, but listeners should also pay attention to how grounded Flyaway Garden is in familiar influences and rhythms. With such a push and pull between these opposite entities, a rare beauty emerges from the tension. Thoroughly enjoyable, this newest venture from Breakfast In Fur moves with a wave-like cadence, pulling you in only to release you back into your familiar territory, and back and forth. It’s a wild ride definitely worth taking.
Following their album release show in Brooklyn, Breakfast In Fur has other dates planned for late February, March, and April.
Amaryllis Lyle
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