Bavaria’s debut album, We’ll Take A Dive is an astonishing collection of minimalist, modular electronic pop songs that is both memorable and affecting.
If you have not heard, seen or in some way stumbled across Austrian-born, now Los Angeles resident John Tejada at some point over the last fifteen years, you might consider moving out from under that rock—you’re missing out. Producing and releasing a steady stream of material since 1998 on labels such as the now defunct DeFocus, Plug Research, 7th City, Kompakt and, of course, a steady stream of EP’s through his own Palette Recordings label, he is also a member of the acclaimed duo I’m Not A Gun with Takeshi Nishimoto, with five albums under their belts.
His newest collaborative project, however, is Bavaria, a name that eludes to the Bavarian origins he shares with vocalist Kimi Recor, who herself currently records under the name Draemings. They have collaborated several times in the past, most recently on Tejada’s last album The Predicting Machine, but this is their first full length offering together. Tejada is no stranger to pairing his pliant and meticulously crafted brand of electronic music with a broad range of vocal styles, but rarely has he explored them this completely and effectively.
The result is We’ll Take A Dive, an astonishing collection of minimalist, modular electronic pop songs that is both memorable and affecting. Recor has a refreshingly natural, honest vocal style, unblemished by faddish trends or gimmicky quirks, and there’s something intangibly familiar about it. A great vocalist is able to embed deep-rooted associations to a song through intuitive enunciation of the lyrics, something Recor is able to achieve in spades.
Thanks to Tejada’s rich and diverse back catalog, We’ll Take A Dive is stylistically broad and varied, his palette ranging from angular, spiky electronica through to rich, soupy synth pop. The brushed stainless steel synths and plucked metallic cables of “Delicate Destroyer” are phased and filtered but work in perfect tandem with Recor’s impassive vocals. Even his glitchy treatment of the vocals on “When We Were Young” are applied with a necessarily delicate and considered hand. Tejada’s signature sound comes through most strongly in “Flashmob Of One,” jittery, aqueous hi-hats skittering across his trademark, bouncy synths.
Recor applies phenomenal emotional range with subtlety and sincerity, her vocals as compelling when fragile and touching such as on the diaphanous, gossamer wings of “We Break Through” as they are when hunted and insistent as heard on the stunning “Everywhere,” an album highlight that partners blank piano keys with brittle percussion and a throaty growl and gurgle. At other times, her voice turns oddly, but always appropriately blank, such as on the prickly “Morning Blue” or silky smooth to act as a counterpoint to Tejada’s clattering percussion and ricocheting melodic structures.
The decision to end on a track as minimal and jagged as “Never” is a brave one, for the most part the only instrumentation being an abrasive guitar that twangs like a giant chrome veneered elastic band as Recor’s reverb-drenched vocals echo into the ether. It’s not a highlight, neither is it typical of the album as whole and it doesn’t leave the best final impression.
Nevertheless, We’ll Take A Dive is a superb debut packed with memorable, infectious and gloriously produced pop songs performed with affecting faith and conviction. Tejada and Recor clearly work brilliantly together, so we can only hope that Bavaria becomes a duo from whom we will hear much more in the future.
We’ll Take A Dive is available on n5MD.
