I have one big, hazy memory attending SXSW in 2018 with some old Nashville friends. The week is pretty much a blur at this point but somewhere in that blur was an absolutely electric BRONCHO performance. Pre-pandemic, pre-economic downfall, pre-a lot of weird things going on in the world. Just an incredible party with extremely talented musicians providing us an intense, psychedelic indie-rock backdrop.
Seven years later and BRONCHO is gearing up to return with a reimagined, grounded, lo-fi dreamscape of a fifth LP, Natural Pleasure. I mention the SXSW memory because I think the shift I felt from a loud scene of a psych-rock party in Austin to the softer, more mature sounds of Natural Pleasure is an important detail to give. This is an album with a thoughtful center; one that is complicated but welcoming. One that feels like real growth – growth of musicians but also just growth of environment and thoughts and just everything in the world.
Starting with “Imagination” and bleeding into “Funny,” Natural Pleasure wastes no time in identifying itself. “Imagination,” in particular, is a track that will make you want to take your shoes off and walk through some meadow while staring up at the sky. In fact, the whole album begs you to reach this point. I’m being a little hyperbolic there but Natural Pleasure certainly asks you to sit down with it and escape in its sonic landscape.
There’s a lot of daydreaming and wandering with this album. It’s very calming and intricate but my favorite part of Natural Pleasure really shows itself about halfway through. The three song stretch of “Original Guilt,” “Save Time,” and “You Got Me” take the transcendence from the first half of the album and introduces a little bit of grit. The music gets a bit more punchy but mostly the vocals of lead singer Ryan Lindsey start to get a little raw and fuzzy. It’s a brilliant balance that keeps the songs very lo-fi and muted but profoundly human.
That balance of the human experience and psychedelic haze takes on another form in the Natural Pleasure closer “Dreamin.” At its core, this track is a honky-tonk bar song birthed from the streets of BRONCHO’s hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma. But layered onto it is a level of psych-fuzz that lifts the track into a strange, genre-bending panel of existence. I feel like it’s the perfect closer for an unpredictable yet comforting journey.
Natural Pleasure will not be for everyone and it’s not because it isn’t good. It’s an experience best fit for full-immersion. Put on your headphones, lay down somewhere, and see what it does for you. When given the right chance, Natural Pleasure is a wonderful experience.
The album is out everywhere Friday, April 25th. Listen to one of the pre-released singles here.
The Indy Review 