Somewhere around 2020 in the thick of the pandemic, I revised BADBADNOTGOOD’s IV album and fell in love with it all over again. That album is pure lightning in a bottle, signaled off by the amazing collaborations with guys like Sam T. Herring, Kaytranada, and the soul stylings of Charlotte Day Wilson. It’s just hit after hit, bringing together that jazz fusion of the four (now three) members of BBNG, the grooving jams, and putting them together in a nice bow with features from high-level artists.
There was a point when this naive music listener thought the jazz Toronto prodigies could top IV after the pandemic. Then came Talk Memory, and save for my review of it in 2021, besides the track “City of Mirrors,” I haven’t had the urge to revisit it, because, in truth, it was a bit forgettable compared to IV, or its predecessor, Sour Soul with the enigmatic Ghostface Killah.
Now we have this triple album Mid Spiral (really just three EPs under one continuous stream), and though it explores some cooler new sounds; samba jazz, cosmic rock, and theremin synth, it is again, pretty forgettable. It’s quite a chill album that never really freaks out with the instrumentation, and I guess that is what I crave from the BBNG boys. Even the title space rock ala Pink Floyd track “Mid Spiral” is pretty cookie-cutter and could have been pushed further (Chester’s bass never really leaves one scale). I know the members have the skill and aptitude to send these tracks into the stratosphere, much like a band like Snarky Puppy, but then again, I haven’t kept tabs on them in a while. Perhaps if we didn’t get the fantastic surprise EP New Heart Designs (a collab with Baltimore hardcore band Turnstile) I might feel different. But the best parts of that little EP are the elevated jazz fusion married with the vocals of Brendan Yates.
Back to Mid Spiral, I do love the cinematic horn section on the song “Your Soul & Mine,” a theme that is utilized perfectly on the track. That actually may be the reason I loved IV so much; the hooks, the instrumental claws song after song that stayed in your mind for weeks. Farther into this triple EP album, another song that has a memorable hook is “Celestial Hands,” though “Your Soul & Mine,” for me takes the prize, because “Celestial Hands” descends into a keyboard/ saxophone wank off. Those solo interludes are important, but you need to get back to the meat in order to keep my attention.
Perhaps BADBADNOTGOOD doesn’t have another IV in them since the departure of founding member, Matthew Tavares or maybe they are now doing their best work being the backing band for another artist, someone like Baby Rose.
Ultimately, Mid Spiral just feels like many jams, filled with flourishes, with a few instrumental hooks but no real staying power.
