bryozoan and their EP, R.64, is a folky enigma hidden in plain sight.
At face value, bryozoan is obscured by low resolution. The artwork for the band’s debut EP R.64 (whose meaning is a mystery in its own right) is a damaged old photo that’s been soiled by water or possibly burned. The band’s photo on their Bandcamp page is a shadowy outline of a faceless figure. The bio section reads, “no biography plz.” I cannot find any other web presence.
The six songs of R.64 have a similar indistinctness. They are mostly folk affairs like “Winnie”, whose sleepily picked acoustic guitar is jolted awake by the determined strums of an autoharp and “Sweet Slow i,” an upbeat piano and guitar driven song. The EP is filled with varied ambient noises and fuzzy instrumentals that groan and creak. Closer “Sweet Slow ii” sounds like it is being played underwater and on “In Ten Years,” bryozoan acts like a despondent seer who lives on another plane of existence and sings “in ten years, my brain will not be youthful. I will learn slowly and be inflexible.”
But we actually know more about bryozoan than it feels like. The artists who play on R.64 are named: William Lund is the primary player and is joined by multi-instrumentalist Mathieu HB, and Arielle Soucy on vocals and guitar. On “Educate Yourself,” a strange, distinctly joviale number, Lund’s voice is at its loudest and reediest and declares what is likely the very ethos of bryozoan: “make the good things last for as long as you think we can keep them going on.” bryozoan — hidden in plain sight.
