While digging through the dense collection that is the Bellingham section of Bandcamp, I stumbled upon something new and exciting.
Arbour, with a style of electronic/hip-hop/jazz fusion, released a new album called Ebbs & Flows Friday.
I was immediately hooked when I heard the first song, “Lua Cheia.” Just over a minute and a half long, it features some unmistakeable jazz lines with a great added drum beat and bassline, complementing the piano perfectly.
While I was hoping for the album to continue with this groove, the second song surprised me with its increasingly melodic approach in place of the rhythmic focus I had just heard. But I found it very similar to the first track in structure.
“Impermanence” created a scene of a high school dance circa the 1980s in my mind, likely due to that synthesizer sound. The song is simple, but it’s light and quite beautiful.
Ebbs & Flows finishes off with “Fragile,” which brings the album in full circle by returning to that hip-hop influenced beat heard in “Lua Cheia.”
Overall, I enjoyed this random find on Bandcamp. I only wish the songs were longer to allow more development because many sounded like they ended before they went anywhere.
Ebbs & Flows, Arbor’s fourth EP, is currently listed in the top 10 best-selling albums under the tag “Bellingham” on Bandamp.
