Boston-based duo The Ballroom Thieves emerges from pandemic solitude with their most charismatic, illustrative songwriting to date, brimming with a newfound reflection on life as a performing artist.
The Ballroom Thieves have struck gold in their latest album Clouds, a folksy, neo-americana chronicle that explores the juxtaposition of seriousness and whimsy. While melodies from each instrument intersect at striking angles, songwriters Martin Earley and Calin Peters speak to the circularity of desire, deference, despair, and dance we experience while chasing after adventure and novelty.
Formed in 2010, the Boston-based duo has found momentum despite recent changes to their personal and professional lives. Since releasing their pre-pandemic album Unlovely, the group has announced the departure of their drummer, Devin Mauch, and the marriage of the remaining two members, Earley and Peters. Clouds unearths the artistic textures discovered in the wake of these transitions.
In the opening track, “Worldender,” the group nods to the volatility of our planet caused by our carelessness and inaction. The song is esoteric in nature, illustrating a fickle, distressed society whose “temper [is] just as grim as [it is] tender”. As the song builds, washy drum stick clicks and sparse piano chords become saturated with sustained guitar fuzz and rhythmic conviction. With isolation being an avenue for self-reflection, The Ballroom Thieves have prompted us to assume the onus of responsibility for our actions that so adversely affect the greater community and environment.
Songs like “The Lightning” and “Trodden” induce acoustic meditations on the patience and attention we owe our emotions. The duo’s instrumental approach forms a soft, textured pad over which each delicate vocal enunciation glows. The staggered melodies, harmonies, and vocables are like sepia-toned photographs draped on a warm-colored wall.
The Ballroom Thieves have a knack for inserting brief, melodic guitar riffs in between vocal passages that digest the theme. On first listen, the giddy, fuzzy guitar breaks in “Shadow,” “I Lose,” and “In the Morning” seem to undermine the songs’ darker lyrical content. However, in every subsequent listen, it becomes clear that the juxtaposition is intentional. The upshot to the “pain [being] just a part of me” is the jovial instrumentation that beckons us to ride the sharp ridges of suffering without digging our heels in too deep. They offer a hopeful response to the struggle of mental health, acknowledging its omnipresence without letting it prevail over other life-defining experiences.
Earley and Peters dovetail sonic and lyrical ideas, and the true thematic sentiment of this album rests in their interplay. Take the track “Pour Down,” which battles the repercussions of trust and betrayal. The melody clings to the march of a snare drum, and low strings glide in the fragile wake of the rhythm, surrendering to the ease of that transient confidence. Calin so poignantly articulates the internal turmoil that results from being misled: “I still wilt in the glare / of your failing light / Do I care do I care do I care / I might / I’m still lost in the tide of a bygone dream / Only you know what I mean.” The pulsing tremolo of a synth sits deep in the mix, as she straddles the justification and denunciation of one’s wrongdoing. The guitar rocks between two notes as she buckles at the knees under the weight of disappointment, and resolves tenderly as she moves through her despair. The entire album, in fact, reaches this level of sophisticated synchronization between lyrics and instruments. As a whole, Earley and Peters mimic the opening and closing of floodgates, focusing on the movement through feelings rather than dwelling on them.
“Borderline,” the penultimate track, cements that interconnected, unnameable touch that reverberates throughout the record. It is raw. They own the buildup of their emotions, and maintain an unrelenting commitment to moving through a story while elaborating its every complexity. There is an impalpable compatibility between the duo that translates so well to a musical context, making their listeners feel like they are in on a secret.
The Ballroom Thieves’ dedication to their artistic journey is impressive. It’s safe to say that after a tumultuous two years, they have harnessed imagination and ambition to push their lives forward. With their last tour upended by the pandemic, they are more eager than ever to get back to live shows in the coming month, so make sure to catch them at The Sinclair in Cambridge on December 10th.