Bayonne - Primitives

The Guardian 60

(City Slang)

Ever since the Guardian’s Peter Robinson christened the “new boring” in 2011 – a movement that contained all the offensively bland nice-pop from Adele to Ed Sheeran that was dominating the charts at the time – it’s felt like a term that could be applied more and more extensively to modern music. Apart from in exceptional circumstances, something that fits neatly under its umbrella is the bloke with a loop pedal and a falsetto. Austin’s Roger Sellers, otherwise known as Bayonne, is one such man, and his debut album is characterised by the sort of lush textures and repetitive chants that so easily blend into background noise. Sometimes his sound leans toward the mechanical – as with the incantatory robotic vocals on Appeals – whereas other tracks draw influences from African rhythms, and even the chugging niceties of nu-folk. Yet all of these references are used so tastefully as to nullify any potential excitement, making for a record that will wash over you pleasantly, without leaving much of a mark.