by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
Seattle’s Ian Kurtis Crist returns with the latest Béret record, Jesus White, due out on October 18th via the project’s new home at Born Yesterday Records (FCKR JR, Glued, Landowner), a record that captures the broad scope of post-punk among its nine tracks. While so much of the revitalized genre has become stagnant and devoid of dynamics, Crist’s sonic vision is one peppered with variety, each song instinctually different from the last, though musically cohesive enough to cement the fact that its a singular record and auditory experience. Inspired by bands and artists like Women, Preoccupations, and John Cale, you hear that art-centric approach in the way each song is built, pushing it’s own swirling headspace into the forefront, accented by the fact there’s rarely any drums in sight.
“Book of Hera,” the album’s second single (following “Fade Out The World”), is an exception to that, built with a steady rhythmic pulse of slowly beaten drums. It’s skeletal in composition, a raw backbeat and gentle croon bounce over guitar chords that feel ripped from the melody it’s creating. Fractured clouds of dissonance are balanced by the song’s otherwise blissful aura, Crist’s vocals taking an easy and digestible path that feels derived from a dream. It’s not par for the course and that’s what makes it all the most exciting, “Book of Hera” is just one piece of the Béret puzzle, a segmented mood plucked from the jagged whole.
Speaking about the song Crist shared:
“I tried to express the human desire of wanting someone to save you from your struggles. The best versions of ourselves are needed out in the world today. No matter how well intentioned, we can't rely on the finity of another human’s power to unlock this version of ourselves.
I hope the perspective displayed in this piece might detail the blurriness between the want and the need for human compassion and understanding. I wanted to contextualize Hera (the goddess of marriage, childbirth, and familial relationships) in this perspective in hope that it might leave one questioning where they are placing the reliance for their own personal well being.”