Tenonsaw - Beginnings

Tenonsaw are an electronic-folk duo made up of Tom Luke and Salt Erikson, based in the badlands of North Cork. This past week they’ve released a sixteen-track CD entitled ‘Beginnings’ compiling their time together over the last number of years. Rather than being a vie for massive national recognition, or an attempted leap at stardom, Tenonsaw have released this record as a pure piece of art, a snapshot of their time together as a group and a hint of things to come.

The song styles are all a variation on a theme. Programmed drum tracks and keys form a base upon which the pair lay a mix of electric and acoustic guitars, synths and Salt’s beautifully distinctive vocals. The tracks, being self-recorded, tend to range in quality but the majority give glimpses, allusions to the potential of the band. Due to the sheer amount of tracks on the CD it would be difficult to look at each one individually, so we’ll just look at a couple of highlights. The opener ‘Pact’ slinks into existence with a beautiful picked guitar with spikes of a supporting electric guitar stabbing behind it. The track swell at the middle and gives way to a bit crushed drum beat combined with arpeggio-esque guitar flourishes. Despite all that’s going on in the track, it still remains remarkably subtle and eventually recedes back into the acoustic guitar as the track fades.

‘Disappear’ is another marvellously subtle track, but its genesis is in electronica rather than folk. An almost hip-hop electronic piano accompanies the verses of the track as a number of effected drum hits patter beneath the piano and the vocals. The song stays on the downbeat side of things as it never really takes off, but that’s the case for Tenonsaw’s sound as a whole and it suits them. This for me is the stand out track on the album. The track ‘Neon´ is another favourite. The DIY style of production really comes through on this track, but because of that you can see the potential of the band’s sound. Parts of it echo Talking Heads, parts Massive Attack, parts Tool. There’s a dark aura here, mainly due to the deep bass line that runs through the track. Yet despite this there is a somewhat uplifting quality to the chorus with its mix of synths and pianos.

For this reviewer, ‘Beginnings’ exists in two worlds. One is a world where this album can be seen as a piece of art, an exposition of the talent and creativity of the duo and nothing else. The other world is the place where this CD should be seen as a sign of things to come. If the production quality goes up, if the vocals become more prominent, then they could be serious contenders. Tenonsaw walk the line between these two worlds. It’s up to them which one they choose to live in.

Drop-D Rating: 8/10

Published on Drop-D.ie - September 15th 2011