What does it mean to bring a project to life with a collaborator you met by chance — say, at a celebrity yoga retreat during the pandemic? Keep Telling Yourself That, the debut album from Goal Weight, meditates on the spontaneous and serendipitous beginning of this creative relationship. Across eight collectively improvised songs, the experimental music duo of violinist Jennifer Gersten and double bassist Marguerite Cox explores the bounds of acoustic string playing through airs of nostalgic folk tunes, angry shredding, and delicate glitches.
The tenacious album kicks off with the chatty, almost sarcastic pulses of “Candy Doll Bluff.” Gersten’s wonderfully twangy theme splays outwards, fuelled by Cox’s tangled, grumbly sound that sounds like the strings could fall off her bass at any moment. Held together by rickety wire fences, the duo creates fascinating moments for the listener to latch onto and wonder: is that sound the hair of the bow? Is it something on the body of the instrument; is it something I haven’t even seen before?
“Brian 1” interweaves violin scratches with a lowly, melancholic bass melody. As the texture thickens, so do the lines between violin and double bass. Space opens up for Cox’s bass to be heard as a hopeful solo instrument, blended with meek utterances from Gersten. In an attempt to re-balance the seesaw, the two eventually come apart, sitting in a heavy, exasperated tune that releases the lingering tension of the track.
In “Who’s Who When The Alarm Sounds,” fragile harmonics and overpressure give a haunting, muted horn aura to Cox’s double bass tone, while Gersten thickly bows pitches in close proximity. Even as the duo peels apart — Gersten travelling toward the higher range of the violin and Cox murmuring with raspy shuffles — their organic blend maintains a strong feeling of synchronicity.
Straddling the lines between tension and joy, the duo communicates through delicate, ethereal bow strokes in “Die Schwebe Leise.” Their control over folk-like nuances scattered into the texture softens the edges, as if the music is slowly evaporating into the ether.
Goal Weight holds a magical arsenal of tools in their toolbox, and “Charlie 3” balances chaos and calm as the duo seemingly tests every possible variation of sound. The track reaches for erratic, machine-like sounds that build with a rapid frenetic energy, exacerbated by Gersten’s prickly strumming. Gersten curiously solos over the top of Cox’s translucent scrub rhythms while dabbling in bluegrass, folk, and microtonal music.
Your New Uncle, the album’s longest track, offers more surprises, including double bass whines that sound alto flute-esque, and rattling along the violin that feels like a set of found objects precisely chosen for each musical moment. Repetitive hisses, strokes, and squeals appear from time to time until becoming a fixed part of the harmonic texture. On “Pyrex Messiah,” double stops and fragments shared between the pair bring warmth and familiarity, like a stripped-back folk tune still shining brightly at the end of the evening.
Coming to the last track, I wondered how an album like this — so fruitful and varied in its approach and craftsmanship — could find its ending. “Good Things Come To Those Who Wait” opts for a more languid and reflective musical language. Gersten and Cox cycle through longer legato material, at times landing on notes and enjoying their ring. But despite the change of pace, the duo intuitively knows how to keep listeners on their toes. As the final track abruptly ends, as if stopping mid-sentence, we’re left on the precipice wondering if more will emerge.
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