Stunning and profound, her second solo album has you listening again and again.
Words: Otis Hayes
Tender and poignant, 'Below A Massive Dark Land' flows gently on from Naima Bock's 2022 debut 'Giant Palm' like a leaf bobbing downstream. An eclectic blend of sounds are presented on this album, as on its sprawling predecessor, though here they feel perhaps more tightly focused. Each component comes together seamlessly, evoking the childlike innocence of mixing primary colours to create new ones.
Opening track 'Gentle' leads the way for 'Below A Massive Dark Land', starkly beginning with Bock's captivating vocals, which are at turns soft and throatily coarse. Contrasting the song's sedate opening, its conclusion elicits a more chaotic energy, its delicately arranged horns picking up while the sounds of frantic conversations cut together in the background. It is this creative attention that generates such great depth within Bock's music. The use of sampled conversations encapsulates a feeling of returning to the city from some rural escape, dragged back into the overwhelming bustle of millions of lives lived on top of each other.
Following on from this build through 'Gentle', we are awakened with a slap in the face from second track 'Kaley'. The intro is filled to the brim with bright saxophone and fuzzy guitar that Marc Bolan himself would have gladly boogied to. From this rousing opening, the track then simmers down into sparser verses. The riff's power, however, leaves you eagerly waiting for it to bulldoze its way through these minimalistic verses back into the spotlight. This track is perhaps the most extreme example to date of Bock's juxtaposition of elated, optimistic explosions with despondent downward musical spirals. It is these human contrasts that serve to make her art so relatable and effective. Unlike many artists, whose expressiveness comes primarily from the vocals, Bock is impressively capable of pairing her words with music to maximise the expression of her point.
Given Bock was born in Glastonbury to a Brazilian father and a Greek mother and spent much of her early life between England and São Paulo, we can begin to infer where her broad range of musical taste and knowledge stems from. Having started her musical career as the bassist of South London post-punk group Goat Girl, it may have come to some as an unexpected turn to hear her focusing on solo music with much a softer sound. Stepping into this new style, however, Bock has produced some of the finest folk-adjacent music to come out of the current revival taking place across the UK.
Released via Subpop Records, 'Below A Massive Dark Land' was recorded at The Crypt in North London and was produced by Jack Osborne (aka Bingo Fury) and Joe Jones. This second album from Bock closes with a short song entitled 'Star', a relatively more simple arrangement that puts a final spotlight on the singer's airy vocals, which drift softly over fingerpicked guitar. Fit into a tight 38 minutes, the album lifts you up and down again in a whirlwind of emotions, always drawing you back for another listen.
