One Track Mind

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If you have ever dreamed about having cool artist types for parents, get ready to get a little bit jealous. On June 29th, Brock Enright and his girlfriend Kirsten Deirup will release Torben, an eight song LP named after their son. The record is divided into two halves: the first four songs comprise the “Day” section, with tunes designed to stimulate and excite, while the back half, “Night,” is filled with lullabies sung by Deirup. While the concept is cute, the execution is excellent–a gift not only to young Torben but to listeners alike.

Enright and Deirup were the focus of the recent documentary Brock Enright: Good Times Will Never Be the Same, which was the subject of controversy for its graphic, violent passages (the film and LP are both released by Factory25); however, their music is less concerned with flamboyance and spectacle than simple, solid songcraft.

“Maybe” is Torben‘s opening track, clocking in at just over two minutes in length. Led by the insistent thump of a synthetic bass drum, the song soon introduces a pair of guitar tracks–one a dense wall of chords, the other lazily hitting the upbeats like an inverted soul rave up. Between the instrumentation and Enright’s quavering vocals, it’s difficult not to think of acts like Wolf Parade and Arcade Fire. Thanks in part to the relatively straightforward approach it employs, “Maybe” is affective and–perhaps most astonishingly given Enright’s resume–catchy.