Nutrients 
Different Bridges 

There is a lightness and levity to Different Bridges, thanks in large part to Nutrients’ meticulously-crafted modern jangle-pop.

Let’s be honest: life doesn’t “hand” anyone lemons. It launches them with a catapult, aiming to hit us where it hurts. Show me someone making the most out of a bad situation while reeling from a sucker punch to the gonads, and I’ll show you someone who has spent too much time faking their way to a perfect life on social media.

I will give a pass to Toronto-based band Nutrients, though. In 2020, when it became evident that the lemon hailstorm known as COVID wouldn’t let up anytime soon, they set up a studio in an old home where vocalist Taylor Teeple and his partner were housesitting and got to work on their sophomore full-length, Different Bridges. What sets this ten-song selection apart from its lockdown-inspired contemporaries is how un-locked down it all feels. The five-piece band describes the record as an “ode to the way life had once been.” Though lyrically, Nutrients re-visit bygone days of walking on beaches, full-capacity public transportation, and backyard bashes free from government-imposed guestlist limits, there is a lightness and levity to Different Bridges, thanks in large part to the band’s meticulously-crafted modern jangle-pop/soft-yacht-rock fusion. 

“I” is a vitamin D-infused beach wave bop, popping with thirst-quenching harmonies. “I like the sound of your voice / When you remember my name,” Teeple sweetly sings in its opening moments before leaving a sour aftertaste, noting, “it’s always the same” every time he and this person cross paths. The line reminds me of bumping into old acquaintances for the first time post-pandemic and feeling like we should have all kinds of news to share. Instead, we end up staring at each other with stupid grins wondering how long we have to engage in this exchange before politely moving on. A sliver of slide guitar on “How the Breeze Felt” adds some country to Nutrietnts’ sinewy twee DNA. “The Dolphin” (politely) brings the funk on what feels like a Casio keyboard rhythm, as does the disco-like walking bass and sexy sax of “Nauseous.”

According to Nutrients, none of this nostalgia was on purpose, yet it surreptitiously serves as the catalyst for their creativity. Though its sound is a wistful melange of soft rock, new wave, and chamber pop, Different Bridges’ “ode[s] to the way life had once been” are buoyant and breezy without being saccharine and sappy. Nutrients balance what could have been overtly sentimental with a splash of acerbic wit and their bright musical arrangements to make the most out of every day, no matter how lemons life lobs their way.