Fredericton-base chamber pop duo Pallmer do not beat around the bush on their latest single. At just seven lines long, “Bricks” is an honest and simple love song that can barely be troubled with more than the scantest metaphor about constructing enduring some based on growth and shared experience, but for the full emotional experience they’ve wrung it out for a solid three minutes.
Woven through the plucking of Emily Kennedy’s cello and Mark Kleyn’s viola are words designed more for the value of their brevity.
“Look at us now, look at how we’ve grown,
Pushing past comfort, laughing at the shoulds,
Brick by brick, laying a foundation,
Six years can hold so much,
But we knew we’d end up here.
Words can’t express what you already know.
Look at us now, look at how we’ve grown.”
Similarly, the instrumentation isn’t flowery, but constant and steady; not building to a crescendo but gently and suddenly muted. It’s as though the song hasn’t ended but rather we, as listeners, have moved on mid-verse. The lack of resolution to the song makes for a clever trick for the ears.
“‘Bricks’ is one of the most intimate songs I’ve written,” says Kennedy. “Although the majority of my writing is very personal, I have a tendency to try to hide behind vagueness and metaphor. Acknowledging this, I wanted to challenge myself – to be open, and to step back from layers of looped strings to something more bareboned and honest.
This is a love song, but not a flourished, romanticized one, It’s about the beauty of building something together, of growing together and holding each other up. It’s a short tune – only seven lines – but each one holds a lot of meaning for me.”
Following on the tails of their single, “Quiet Clapping,” “Bricks” was similarly recorded by audio engineer Corey Bonnevie (Monopolized Records) at Saint John, New Brunswick’s InterAction School of Performing Arts in the former Germain Street Bapitist Church.
“We wanted the recording to embody the intimacy of the song; to be able to push and pull, and to break away from having to fit into a click,” said Kennedy.
“We recorded ‘Bricks’ in a large dance studio in the back of the building, taking advantage of its natural resonance, and embracing the occasional noises from old water heating. The video was filmed in a similar manner. We recorded it in Memorial Hall, and Sarah Kierstead captured the video after only a few takes.”
The whole thing is a minimalist affair, allowing the meaning to resonate with the listener beyond the scope of the usual tropes of love songs. “Bricks” is more next-level poetry than anything else.
Pallmer upcoming EP, Quiet Clapping, is due out April 9, 2021.