The title "House Fire Painting" sums up a lot of what Toronto-based funk-pop group Nutrients are about on their LP Different Bridges. It's actually a good starting point for the album, even though it's buried deep in the sequencing. A breezy, reedy chord progression weaves on a bongo beat like a stray feather caught in the drooping thread of a spider's web, straining on its teether while flowing on the draft of a semi-Caribbean groove; not in a bind, just trying to unwind. This incredibly chill conflux is, of course, decompressing under a header that both communicates its beauty as well as the terminable nature of such an appealing thing as a painting melting in a house on fire. The course of many aspects of life have this quality. A moment of contemplation, a kind gesture from a friend, a momentary reprieve to watch a bird forage from a window; all spent up like a love letter put to the fire. Fully consumed by the sequential pace of more mundane or agonizing encounters. Yet, it's these small moments, these ampoules of peace and connection, that deliver us from our worries and hurries long enough to make the day worthwhile. Every winter has a spring, and if you wait long enough, also a summer. Nutrients wrote Different Bridges during the heart of the pandemic, in a house that did not belong to any of the members. In isolation, it was easy to imagine that the world was going to be very different once they reemerged back into it. I don't know what their impressions were when they finally reentered the wild, but I want to imagine from the music on this album that they were hopeful, weary maybe, but also enthused. I like to imagine the sun-kissed qualities of their guitar work, the swaddling brush of the bass grooves, and the dear hush of Taylor Teeple's vocals are more than just a vain intercession in the dark, but disclosures to inspire rejuvenating acts of kindness in the face of the blunt glare of day. I hope that the band are living their lives to the fullest after the freeze of their sequester thawed. I know Different Bridges is reminding me to do the same in my own little neck of the woods.
