*. Brett Kull .*

Album: The Last of the Curlews (2008)
Genre: Prog Rock (Crossover/Art Rock)  /  USA

The title of the album comes from a story by Fred Bodsworth and although Brett Kull never read the book, he remembers watching a cartoon version when he was a kid. The story is about the annihilation of a bird called Eskimo Curlew and the cartoon follows the last two birds desperately searching each other. The sad ending of the story has always stayed with Brett Kull and he feels that the songs on The Last Of The Curlews somehow exemplifies the songs on the album. The sleeve design of the album features the two birds. It’s a beautiful painting by Tara Jane O’Neil. The songs on The Last Of The Curlews are all of a great quality and in comparison to Orange-ish I feel that not only the Curlews songs are stronger, but that a lot more attention was paid to the arrangements. The quality of the songs and the clever arrangements reminded me of artists like Aimee Mann and Michael Penn but also lesser known singer songwriters like Jason Falkner and Jon Brion. And above all the album sounds much better than Orange-ish which is, I think, largely due to the experiences Kull has accumulated over the years. Curlews is even more a solo effort than his first solo album as he is helped only by Echolyn colleague Paul Ramsey on drums and some guests on backing vocals. Acadia Gulls is an impressive album opener, clocking over seven minutes the song alternates between verses that are dominated by Ramsey's heavy drumming and Brett's slide guitar, and a beautiful chorus where the piano takes centre stage. And in the midst of it all Brett Kull's beautiful voice. Now if this song still contained some references to Echolyn the rest of the album does not. Lullabies And Starlings is a beautiful pop song with Beach Boys influences. Each time I hear this song it brings a smile to my face. Hey Horizon has a melancholy feel that is emphasized by the use of a Hammond and slide guitar. Again the catchiness of the song is addictive and when you hear this song you’ll be singing it all day. This high quality of the songs remains throughout the album and as I said before, also the clever arrangements and the open, crystal clear production that enables you to hear all the instruments and everything that goes on in each song contribute positively. As with Molly Deckers background vocals in If She Could Be Who She Wanted which also has a beautiful guitar solo during the chorus at the end of the song. If I heard it correctly Kull also seems to make use of a Chamberlin (a sort of American Mellotron) to add some cool sounds to the songs. For example the weird sounds in the background at the start of Halos along with the flutes during the verses. The song ends with an excellent short guitar solo. Become A Ghost is another killer song, which has “hit potential” written all over it. Great verses in which Kull shows he can play bass as well and befitting the great drumming from Ramsey. At the risk of repeating myself, the same applies to the equally strong Autumn Ending (I just love those la la la’s at the end). It really only happens very rarely that I listened to an album that seemed to get better with every song. The final song “Windows of light” starts with the sound of a film projector and spoken word over a desolate piano motif with added percussion and strings (Chamberlin?). So beautiful! And then after a little more then two minutes the song opens up and Brett sings. With Windows Of Light this impressive album gets an impressive ending. And now comes the difficult part. How do we rate this album. As it’s not prog I feel I can’t give it a DPRP recommended rating but with The Last Of The Curlews Brett Kull really has made a beautiful, melancholic but through it all, a very uplifting album that I can recommend to anybody who loves good songs. Even if it does not fit the “progressive rock” label. This album deserves a large audience. Review by "Leo Koperdraat" (www.dprp.net).

RATING:  7.75 / 10

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