Plumerai

By Andrew Palmacci

Photo by Mauricio Tejerina

"I'm an equal opportunist," says Elizabeth Ezell, vocalist for Boston-based indie rockers Plumerai, when asked about the title choices for songs on the group's newly released first full-length, Without Number. "I pick song titles from many different languages, including Spanish and Latin," she says. Three of these songs are taken from the band's first release, the EP entitled Res Cogitans: "Avernal," "Illuminata," and "En Vole." These esoteric monikers might seem cryptic upon first consideration, but the band's naming of song titles is evocative of their inventive, intellectual sound. Often grand and all-encompassing, Plumerai's music blends a variety of disparate influences from around the world into the more traditionally grounded genre of rock.

The group began in early 2006 with brothers Martin (guitars, synths) and James Newman (bass), adding percussionist Todd Richards and, shortly after that, Ezell. Martin Newman is the primary songwriter and brings the core songs and changes to the rest of the group. "After that," he says, "everybody adds their parts," with Ezell handling "100% of the lyrics and vocal melodies." The unique thing about Plumerai's sound is the way each member of the band contributes to a layered, unified barrage of textural melody. Think My Bloody Valentine with accordions. The band layers keyboards, accordions, guitar feedback, and weird noises into the mix until it's hard to decipher each part individually, yet each instrument remains equally important. Despite the group's sound taking form as a unified whole, the band's greatest asset is Ezell's sultry, tortured vocals, which will no doubt lead to countless Beth Gibbons comparisons. Todd Richard's deft drumming is an interesting study in how to perfectly combine dizzying shoegaze influences with the steady bleakness of Portishead-y trip hop beats, giving Ezell just enough space to coo her way through these memorable soundscapes.

An impressive confluence of sounds and influences differentiates Plumerai from their peers. Using traditional folk instruments from around the world, the band's artistic palette is varied both sonically and regionally. Martin Newman explains that "the nature of the [more traditional] instruments allow more rhythmical playing than if we were just playing guitar and keyboards" - especially, he emphasizes, where the accordion is considered. "The way you can play the accordion rhythmically is something that would sound cheesy or generic on keyboards or synths, but the 'breathiness' of the instrument allows you to just bang out a rhythm along to the song that sort of lifts the music as opposed to sounding weighted down with melody."

While Plumerai cites modern pop bands like The Cure, Lush, and Cocteau Twins as influences, the band also weaves in a highly original array of world and euro-folk influences as well. Newman cites a variety of Eastern Euro "gypsy" bands like Fanfare Ciocarlia, Taraf de Haikdous, and local Boston ensemble ViaRomen. "When I listen to this type of music, I don't really listen to guitars, I listen to the Balkan style brass, the violins/fiddle and accordion," he says. "I write according to those influences, but I still have a solid base of rock, post-punk, and shoegaze bands that I grew up listening to ... with some punk and metal thrown in for good measure."

In support of their new release, Plumerai, will tour around the country this fall.

www.plumerai.com