One of the traits of what is loosely dubbed as modern classical music is that the classical composition concept serves solely as the base, where other elements are brought in, coming from the musical ideas developed further elsewhere – it could be pop in all its shapes and forms or just a figment of the artists’ imaginations.
That is basically a manner in which Vanbur, a collaboration of Bristol-based composers Jessica Jones and Tim Morrish, seem to be building their music upon their (formal) debut album Of Becoming. Actually, the manner in which the duo were to develop their music could have already been visible/audible with their debut EP Human (2020), and its remix version (2022), including versions by Mogwai, Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres and Mafro.
And basically, that is the direction Jones and Morrish take here – their classical music background is only a loose base upon which they build their music that picks up elements from anywhere they see fit, from Cocteau Twins-style dream pop accentuated by Jones’ vocals (‘Earthing’) to the beat-filled pulse on tracks like ‘Strange Kind of Creature’.
The post-rock elements come in and phase out, bringing in that cinematic feel, after all, the duo has jointly and solo had quite a few film and TV credits attached to their names.
In a way, Of Becoming presents what Vanbur have already achieved musically elsewhere, but also gives a sense of what could be expected from the duo from now on.
