"Bronto arrives after the longest gap between records-nine years-and represents Gibb's most extreme makeover yet. Once a missionary for "gay folk church music," he is now, for the first time, writing from the discotheque. If the Hidden Cameras long fell into the indie-pop tradition of the Smiths, Belle and Sebastian, and the Magnetic Fields, the new album situates itself along the queer club-hopping continuum of Arthur Russell, Pet Shop Boys, and Hercules and Love Affair (complete with remix co-signs from '80s elders)."
"To those who caught them during their early-2000s ascendancy, the Hidden Cameras seemed like a group effort: Gibb flanked himself with a chaotic cadre of classically trained musicians, amateur noisemakers, and semi-nude go-go dancers that showed fellow Canadian collectives like Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene how to really crowd a stage, and had Rough Trade guru Geoff Travis jetting into Toronto."
"But the Hidden Cameras began as Gibb's solo project, and in many respects, that's how it's remained. Since decamping to Berlin in 2006, Gibb has treated the band more like his own personal Etch A Sketch: devising elaborate new visions for the enterprise, wiping the slate clean with each album, and gradually displacing his former gaggle of Toronto art-scene anarchists with seasoned celebrity collaborators."
Joel Gibb has introduced a queer perspective into unlikely spaces such as churches and rodeos. The Hidden Cameras began as Gibb's solo project but often performed as a chaotic collective during the early 2000s. After relocating to Berlin in 2006, Gibb reconceived the band repeatedly and replaced Toronto art-scene collaborators with seasoned celebrity contributors. The band's releases slowed but explored diverse styles, including goth-dub and country pastiche. Bronto follows a nine-year gap and marks a pivot to disco and club-oriented sounds, embracing the dancefloor as a space for uninhibited, candid songwriting.
Read at Pitchfork
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]