Builder of the House is folk-pop duo Rob Cimitille (guitars, vocals) and Elliot Heeschen (drums, vocals). The two met each other and combined forces in 2012 when they both joined a marimba band in the Zimbabwean tradition. On Builder of the House’s first full-length record Ornaments, the two go for a fusion of narrative American folk and African beat structures on nine songs, each an individual and complete story. Energetic, bright and celebratory, these African influences make fascinating bedfellows for Builder of the House’s very somber approach to folk and Americana songwriting.
The folk tradition of storytelling and narrative is very well done on Ornaments. It’s a fun experience to listen to each track and imagine the character about whom it was written, and I get the sense that Cimitille and Heeschen like messing with our heads a little bit. The track “Lily” tells a story based on a Chinese fable about a dead woman, but unless you listened for the lyrics it might be difficult to parse that out, as it’s the bounciest, most south African-inspired track on the album. On “My New Eyes,” the duo employ a similar lightheartedness in sound (complete with the absent-minded whistling of an old-timey hobo) to tell a tale about accepting life as it is and not really shooting for big goals anymore. It’s kind of depressing if you look close, but it’s obscured with those cheerful African beats. It’s not a new trick to hide difficult content behind deceptively bright music, but it’s often an effective one when it shows up.
When the duo let the boat keel heavily to either side, Ornaments has its brightest moments. The standout track on this record is very clearly “Look At The Man,” a measured and sincerely moving acoustic lament written about a man struggling to manage gender identity. That simple description doesn’t do this song justice; it’s a blip of genius on Maine’s music radar. It’s one of the best songs to come out of Maine in 2017, and the band was smart to make a very emotional video for the song starring Portland’s first lady of Drag, Cherry Lemonade (Conor Tubbs), giving us a tiny but intense glimpse into Cherry’s life as a performer. The thing about the tune is that there is nary a note of marimba to be found; it eschews the African influences on the album completely.
My gripe with this album is that it needed an editor, and I think that’s often the case with a project’s first full-length album. Cimitille and Heeschen are obviously capable of greatness, but too many of the songs on Ornaments ride the line between folk and African influences in a way that doesn’t quite gel. It’s just not totally comfortable, there’s an uneasiness — kind of like seeing your awkward indoor-type friend show up to a party in a well-intentioned dress that doesn’t fit right and looks ‘off.’
The album was recorded and produced at Acadia with Todd Hutchinson, and it sounds objectively great. All the pieces are crisp and show up where they’re supposed to. I wonder, though, if Builder of the House had gone into the studio with a heavier-handed producer to push this record into a more cohesive mold, to push the band to choose where their sound would eventually pull the majority of its influence, would some of those on-the-fence tunes have settled into bigger pops of greatness as well? With the level of detail and care that Cimitille and Heeschen have put into their first full-length effort, the band’s next album is one I’ll certainly look forward to hearing.
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Ornaments | by Builder of the House | Feb 22, Sat 9 pm | Blue, 650A Congress St, Portland | https://builderofthehouse.bandcamp.com
