Bambara - Birthmarks (2025)

It's been five years since Stray, the last full-length from Brooklyn post-punk trio Bambara was released, and while the band may have been publicly quiet during that time, they weren't being idle. The impressive Love on My Mind EP came out in 2022, and between then and now, Bambara undertook a notably long gestation period for Birthmarks. With production assistance from Graham Sutton of Bark Psychosis, initial sessions for the album began back in the summer of 2023, but those tracks were reworked, resampled, and reconfigured over more than a year to yield the final product. Still quite unafraid of drama—Reid Bateh's rich voice evokes a sort of vulnerable, saucy version of Nick Cave—Bambara have developed a stronger sense of rhythmic power on Birthmarks, making it a more impactful and direct affair than their previous albums. Sweeping arrangements still feel minimalist in their composition but maximalist in their impact, and the slashing melodrama of the band's approach can sometimes feel a little louche—equal parts sultry swagger and noir ominousness. Sometimes, as on "Holy Bones," it can almost be a little too much; that cut, with its twangy groove, is accompanied by lyrics like "Don't you cry for St. Valentine/ He won't mind/ He's been dead for so long/ But we've still got time" that are faintly cringey, but also pretty shameless in their evocative perfection. Elsewhere, the results are much more powerful. The synth-forward "Pray to Me" unapologetically blends '80s darkwave vibes, while "Dive Shrine" brings to mind an updated take on mid-'90s electro-alt, with its big beat propulsion, industrial intensity, and a vocal delivery that wouldn't have been out of place on a Soul Coughing album. The occasional feints at sleazy rock 'n' roll can be deliciously over-the-top ("Letters from Sing Sing"), but for the most part, Birthmarks is at its best on numbers like the album-opening "Hiss," a thick slice of explosive theatricality that has just the right blend of menace and mystery.

TRACKLIST

1. Bambara - Hiss
2. Bambara - Letters From Sing Sing
3. Bambara - Face Of Love
4. Bambara - Pray To Me
5. Bambara - Holy Bones
6. Bambara - Elena's Dream
7. Bambara - Because You Asked
8. Bambara - Dive Shrine
9. Bambara - Smoke
10. Bambara - Loretta