Jude Brothers – render tender / blunder sunder

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The Arkansas-born, New Mexico-formed artist Jude Brothers lures the listener into a spellbinding, poetic, surprising world with their album render tender / blunder sunder. It’s been a long time since I was as enthralled by a piece of music as I was when I listened to this record.

The album opens with the title track – the lapping of the waves, an ominous humming in the distance, a train passing through in the background, and Jude Brothers’ saying: “I wonder what this is gonna feel like and be like and sound like”. It sounds almost like the start of a Netflix show, a fantasy detective series where the heroine bravely sets off on an adventure, a journey where curveballs will be thrown, and mysteries will be unravelled.

For all the folk mystery that envelops Jude Brothers’ melodies, their lyricism is raw, honest, and direct. On doubt – doubt, they sing: “all this ugly that’s inside of me/ all this ugly that’s gonna die with me/ but you say doubt breeds doubt!”. Their album emerged from the aftermath of a romantic and musical partnership’s end, and Brothers isn’t afraid of looking inward for the truth behind the grief.

Calling themselves a vocal shapeshifter, Brothers’ voice sounds at times lamenting and desperate, at others taunting and bold. That is all the more obvious in yar wut yar – i love you for it! where the singer shows off the ease with which they bridge, pirouette, and leap through impressive vocal range distances. The singer songwriter shows themselves as a fearless vocalist that refuses to be complacent.

The fourth track and one of the album singles, torch bare / the boss, is a heartbreak song that ties the hankering for the person lost and a sense of freedom gained into a messy knot that so reflects the end of a romantic relationship. Brothers evokes a sense of melancholy and loss with the lyrics: “Still, I implore you to tell me/ Where you are? How you are?/ Tell me, do you still wanna be a star?” Towards the song’s end, they belt: “Your torchbearer no more!”

Leti says – rain in the desert! is another testament to Brothers’ powerful voice and their guitar prowess, a song built around introspective questions: “is this what makes a life?/ I’m trying to decipher/what I can invite/ and what I’ll have to siphon”.

Blackest crow / deerest deer! is the only song on the album not written by Jude Brothers. A parting lament heard in Appalachia and the Ozarks after the Civil War, Brothers brings it with an understated, heartfelt vocal, followed by the sound of someone whistling on the beach and birds flying away over the ocean.

The next song, practising silence / looking for water!, is another album single and another exploration of post-breakup longing, healing, and identity searching. It’s subdued, introspective, and inquiring – a letter you write to a former lover and never send. The arrangement gently propels the song forward on waves of rolling Celtic lever harp and guitar, while Brothers ponders: “Truth be told, we called it cause it just wasn’t right/ and I wish I’d never held onto you so damn tight!”

As we near the album’s end, thank you for letting me go – thank you for letting me grow! opens with a lively, upbeat guitar intro that shifts into a more peaceful song of acceptance, as the songwriter chants “nothing goes to waste” a cappella. It starts to rain, and Brothers starts to talk, thanking their former partner for letting them go and grow, finding gratitude and healing.  

The closer of the album, last song – upper galinas!, is a letting go and a coming home to yourself. It’s the final goodbye in a string of goodbyes. They sing: “I sing for the innocence that I redeemed/I sing for a moment we shared in a dream/ I sing for all that will never be spoke/ not for the bridges that must remain broke”. Delicate string arrangements cradle Brothers’ voice with its magical leaps, enveloping the listener like a swaddled child rocked gently back and forth. It’s the last song, sung to the grief, the heartbreak, and the turmoil of a painful ending, and with it, Brothers steps into a new beginning, another journey that I am already looking forward to.

Pre-Order ender tender / blunder sunder via  Gar Hole Records | Bandcamp

Jude Brothers UK/Ireland Tour Dates

May

6 – Dublin, IRE – Anseo Camden Street (w/ Branwen, Clatter And Drone, Katie Gerardine O’Neil)
13 – Alnmouth, NBL – The Hindmarsh Hall (w/ Errant Moose)
14 – Alnwick, NBL – The Tanners Arm
19 – Yorkshire, ENG – Arts Barge York
20 – Hull, ENG – New Adelphi Club
21 – Penrith, ENG – Penrith Players Theatre
24 – Sutton, ENG – The Sound Lounge (w/ Paul Handyside)

June

2 – Hastings, ENG – The Jenny Linn Inn
7 – Bristol, ENG – The Green Man, Bristol (w/ Lady Nade, Holly Carter, & Fraser Anderson)
10 – Swansea, WLS – Ty Cwrw 
11 – Cardiff, WLA – The Moon Cardiff (w/ Rachel Taylor-Beales)
14 – Brighton, ENG – The Folklore Rooms (w/ Dylan Earl & Harrison Baird-Whitman)
16-18 – Turnbridge Wells, ENG – Black Deer Festival
19 – London, ENG – The Betsey Trotwood

Website: https://judebrothersmusic.com/