Bly de Blyant is led by Norwegian drummer Øyvind Skarbø and also features Icelandic guitarist Hilmar Jensson and the Brooklyn-based multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily.
For reasons best known to themselves the trio are dressed in carnival costumes as a lion, a frog and a chicken on the album sleeve.
Hindsight Bias was recorded in the same studio in Bergen as their debut release ABC but whereas the previous work was entirely improvised, this time around six of the eight tracks are based on more or less finished arrangements. "I wanted to create a more integrated album, with fewer and more concise songs.” Skarbø says.
It’s still a fairly loose, hybrid sound for all that. There's some prog-rock, jazz fusion and even a hint of disco. As a consequence, the mellow groove of the title track is framed by the boring funky soul loop of Laura and the routine prog-rock workout of Michael Jackson Pollock.
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Westkreuz contains a single word (which may or may not be the track title) and is the only vocal on the record, chanted just once as though to remind us that there are human beings behind the project.
The incongruousness of the banjo on the closing track The Righteous Irascibles demonstrates the band's anything goes philosophy but the lack of cohesion makes this a confused and confusing listen.
Bly De Blyant's website
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