Prevalent Hopelessness That Does Not Falter

Questioning everything, the U.K.-based outfit bdrmm seems to be trying to make sense of something — or maybe all things — throughout I Don’t Know, an album imbued with elements of warped rock, electronic music and techno-pop.

Bedroom, released in 2020, was their first go at adhering to the boundaries of a post-punk sound, limiting the expansion of their experimentation. Now, they’ve reached their second record, and it certainly has a charming effect incapable of being disregarded. They sing, on “Hidden Cinema,” “Where do we draw the line?/We’re just trapped in borrowed time,” and their musings attract all ears to them as they try to process all of what their eyes have seen. Nothing’s necessarily new here, since they fall back into hard-dying habits, but all’s nonetheless more informed, more focused, than their previous works, thanks to plenty of blending. 

“Alps” thumps with grandeur, ethereal swells like those out of either a sci-fi thriller or motivational sports movie transforming into magic the whole of the amalgamation of instruments used by all knowledgeable minds aboard. The synthesizers take on a tropical persona. Lead vocalist Ryan Smith is no stranger to hard-hitting lyrics that play into prettiness yet balance out infiltrating implications of pettiness. “We are forever moving backwards/It seems that there’s no hope,” he slurs, though his angelic delivery dwindles the recurring despondency — a prevailing theme on I Don’t Know — attempted to be tackled.

Guitarist Joe Vickers and bassist Jordan Smith infuse each track with preponderant plucking and splendid strumming. While I Don’t Know is made up of merely eight exquisite songs, the influence is significant during each and every minute, especially on “It’s Just a Bit of Blood” and “We Fall Apart.” Both are like incoming tidal waves, with their dramatic flairs and triumphant transitions. The usage of both guitars grants the soundscapes a dreamy quality, allowing some lines of Smith’s lyrics, like, for example, “I hope we can become something,” to simultaneously convey both passing playfulness and stimulating sadness. 

I Don’t Know is doing what it does best when it exploits that which is not characteristic of bdrmm’s usual sound. Certain portions of “Be Careful” can be labeled as lo-fi. Head-rocking drums, too, find a roster spot on various tracks, only adding an effervescent energy. bdrmm may sway a little too close to the sound of a band like Coldplay from time to time, but their trial and error sends the spotlight their way. 

bdrmm’s second at-bat feels cinematic As mentioned earlier, it includes a track entitled “Hidden Cinema.” And really, that title is applicable to the work at large. From the lyrical evocation of what a different world’s wildlife scene might look like on “Advertisement One” to I Don’t Know’s thoughtful inclusion of the emotional “Pulling Stitches,” the range of these artists must not go unnoted. Individual songs may persist longer than what’s considered favorable but saying such simply steals away from the epic I Don’t Know is through and through. The road ahead for this quartet is laden with untapped potential and now it’s only a matter of time before bdrmm strikes back with silent swagger. After all, just take the opening statement from “A Final Movement”: “Just because it feels like the end doesn’t mean we have to pretend.”