Polynation - Bloom

A Closer Listen

Amsterdam duo Polynation has been quiet on the release front since 2019’s Igneous, briefly surfacing last April with the lovely single “Wald.”  Turns out the single was a standalone release, not found on the new EP Bloom, but for good reason; Bloom possesses its own unique timbre.  By adding Eric Vloeimans on trumpet and Itai Weissman on saxophone and EWI, the two has both tweaked and expanded their sound.  Bloom is a fusion release in which the organic and electronic mix and mingle, in large part thanks to the hybrid abilities of the EWI, which is able to pitch and process synthesizer sounds.

The EP is also very literally blue, the lovely vinyl matching the hues of the cover art.  While the title suggests spring, the cover tilts backwards to winter, the lights of the upper half suggesting snowflakes, and forward to summer, those of the lower half suggesting fireflies.  The season seems to be as mutable as the sound.  As to the sound, it is warm and enveloping, an invitation to frolic in the cerulean woods.  The opening “Hyfen” percolates with chime-like percussion before introducing the sax and bass-like synth.  The trumpet slides recall old spy movies, while the mid-piece percussion suggests a tropical dance.  All drumming ceases in the center, revealing a lovely clearing.  There’s a lot going on, but every element works, including the title, a Dutch word for hyphae, or “long filamentous branches of fungi and actinobacteria that form mycelium.”  One can hear the same thing happening in the music, along with echoes of Future Sound of London’s “My Kingdom.”

Surprisingly, there are no beats on the title track, which lies on a bed of trumpet and keys.  If one were looking for a winter track, this would be it: a reminder of all the activity that unfolds beneath the surface, unseen by human eyes: not necessarily the bloom, but the groundwork for the bloom.  In terms of color, it’s also the most blue: jazz-inflected and calm, a prelude for the more active “Ritueel,” which bursts from the ground like a new shoot.  The format is crucial here; on the 12″, “Bloom” offers a soft ending to Side A, an invitation to flip the side, a comedown that may or may not be followed by Side B; in the digital edition, there is no pause.  Thanks to the rapid drumming, “Ritueel” is the album’s most ebullient piece, so it is no surprise it was selected as the first single.

Again the tempo shifts.  “Fade” is what one might suggest from the title, also beatless, a reflective companion to “Ritueel,” but also a sibling to “Bloom”. As the track progresses, a softening occurs, the ending graced with quietude.  After one listen, the temptation is to re-sequence, but the track don’t work as well in any other configuration, a sign that great thought was put into the order.  In their current positions, the sides of the EP connote the cycles of nature, the ebbs and flows of the tide, and the passing of the seasons: the perfect shade of blue.  (Richard Allen)