Jon Brændsgaard Toft’s “Brick By Brick” evokes the image of a dying star on some desolate planet. It is a record about the human condition of how relationships are as tenuous as a spider’s web glistened in the moonlight. It constantly shifts between progressive rock and acoustic folk through Toft’s mastery of the many instruments he plays, not unlike some sort of time-travelling seamstress sewing together a patchwork quilt.
As I delved into the album, I began thinking about the vulnerabilities of trust how painstakingly it’s built and how it can break down in an instant. The lyrical Toft involves this theme in such a complicated interplay supported by time signatures that were anything but simple, rhythms that bounce with the pulse of potential listeners. The addition of three-part harmonies creates a layer of complexity, like finding that hidden room in the ancient mansion.
What really sets “Brick By Brick” apart, though, is how it effortlessly marries the cosmic with the mundane. Toft’s songwriting flows like a familiar conversation, comfortable, and relatable yet it’s from time to time laced with deep insight. He crowds the fragility of the human heart into the vastness of space, never allowing one to forget just how connected everything is despite how small we each are.
Immediately, “Brick by Brick” made me think of the surrealist paintings of René Magritte: the way he would take something very ordinary and make it quite out of the ordinary. In very much the same way, Toft takes music and perception, updating the universe to reflect our fragile, fantastic humanness in a mirror.
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