There is a bird in the Amazon called the white bellbird. It is roughly the size of a pigeon, but it holds a very specific biological record: it is the loudest bird in the world. We are talking about a physical wall of sound that hits 125 decibels, which is effectively the same volume as a pile driver or a jet taking off nearby. Now, Montreal avant-garde quartet Bellbird have taken that specific frequency and woven it into their second album ‘The Call’. This is their first outing on Constellation Records, a label known for its adventurous and uncompromising roster. The title track acts as a conceptual anchor for the entire record. It uses the actual analysis of that avian cry to build a sonic environment that is as loud and expressive as the bird itself.
The quartet consists of four musicians who have abandoned the traditional hierarchy of jazz. Usually, you have a lead soloist and a rhythm section that follows along. Bellbird operates as an egalitarian collective where the saxophones often provide the texture and the drums drive the melody. This approach was refined during various residencies where all eight compositions emerged through shared reflection and improvisation. Their previous debut ‘Root in Tandem’ laid the groundwork, but this new collection moves much deeper into the relationship between humans and the natural world. It is a record that demands you pay attention to the architectural structures of the sound. The tracks represent a unified statement from a group that functions as a single organism.
Recording took place at Hotel2Tango in Montreal with engineer Sylvaine Arnaud. The goal was to capture the raw intensity of a live performance without losing the subtle details of the instrumentation. You can hear the physical nature of the music through the use of bowed bass and metallic timbres. Pieces like “Soft Animal” and “Phthalo Green” balance a heavy muscular energy with moments of extreme vulnerability. There is also a significant social layer to this music as the band addresses the climate crisis and global solidarity. The track “Blowing on Embers” stands as a dedicated response to the current state of the world. It is an honest and high-energy document of a band finding poetry in the chaos of the modern era.