Listening to The Age of Self Help, the new album from Irish duo Rezo, an ever-changing sound collage begins to form, changing radically with every exposure. Tones and textures morph and marry new concepts with old, challenging the idea of a particular focal point. The Age of Self Help defies the tides of time without ever seeming to spring a leak, taking paths that appear straight and narrow until the waves shift and suddenly errant sounds become whole, and the path has been radically altered.
Songs that appear simple are not; there’s an intent behind each note and Colm O’Connell and Rory McDaid find a way to merge the past and present on Live in the Beautiful. This happy-sad keyboard-dominated song begins with a guitar and a car horn, depicting life at its most gritty, “…the addicts, the street-workers and the fights. It’s these everyday tragedies that feed a nostalgic desire to be somewhere more beautiful and innocent, like maybe the past,” according to O’Connell. It forms a respite from the everyday disasters that haunt us.
Building from the rudiments, Honest Heart grows in power just as the song details how life tends to put everyone in their place. “There is no ego look at me now/ Thought I was something/ but much less than now.” Everything you know is wrong, and while they sing, the song builds in strength, becoming more of a testament to our lack of understanding. Being honest in your heart is the ultimate achievement.
With each song, Rezo challenge the norm, making bolder choices (with the help of producer Marcus Paquin) as they play with individual instruments until they have generated something extraordinary out of those accumulative pieces. Molotov literally seems to explode with the sound of sirens; random voices adding to the chaotic conditions.
Balancing the heavy thud of a bass drum with the fragile notes of the piano establishes Bicycle as a song that wears its sadness on its sleeve. The Big Dipper brings in the entire drum kit, along with piano and guitar, to create a song far bigger than the sum of its parts, with the trumpet that comes in during the second half creating a new jazz context.
Nothing prepares you for Requiem for a Friend. Much like memories, this song has more odd intersections, from the simple piano to the boom bass and drums, creating a remembrance that includes all the parts which make us human. The good and the bad, the happy and the sad, merge, reaching a bold but human crescendo.
The counterpoints of common songs don’t seem to apply to Rezo. Incorporating vaguely odd angles and twisted melodies, The Age of Self Help applies the lessons that need to be learned in an era where being heard has never been more challenging; we are all we have.
The Age of Self Help (12th July 2024) Self Released.