By James Carnes

Indie rock veteran Chris Brokaw continues down the path to post-rock fulfillment with his fifth solo release Canaris, an instrumental album performed solely on his powerful, and at times delicate, acoustic guitar.

Perhaps best known for his work with 1990s alternative slowcore bands Codeine and Come, Brokaw has since experienced critical solo success after departing from the latter group in 2002.

At first glance it might seem Brokaw has much to get off his chest with the release an instrumental album; however, upon closer inspection Canaris is littered with hidden meanings and hazy implications.

The album’s cover  - depicting an animal eating its own tail – suggests that Canaris is a cyclical and circular movement. This is further realized through the track sequence, which opens and closes with the songs “Exemptive” and “Exempted.” These two tracks are dynamically distinctive from each other, but share a similar sentiment of released obligation.

Brokaw’s narrative is further explained by the album’s four middle passages. Most notable is the outstanding cover of obscure French metal ghouls Vlad Tepes’s “Drink The Poetry of Celtic Disciple.” Clocking in at just under 13 minutes, this rattling acoustic tour de force carries the listener through the mud and the mist.

“Watching The Clouds” is a contemplative ballad conjuring images of cumulus archons breezing high overhead, while the track “Sanguary” is a slow and bloodthirsty ode to battle.

Canaris climaxes with the title track; an exhausting 17-minute essay on amplified acoustic guitar feedback. On it’s own, this song is difficult to digest after more than one listen. However, when played in sequence with Canaris’s other songs, it’s synergetic role can be understood. 

It can only be assumed Brokaw’s choice of title for Canaris is a reference to mysterious WWII resistance fighter Wilhelm Canaris. This further plays into the album’s notion of power and struggle.

Brokaw’s biggest accomplishment with Canaris is what he is able to achieve with so little. Having previously proven his skills as an accomplished singer-songwriter, Brokaw could have easily taken this path of least resistance to directly convey his ideas. Instead, he practiced the lost art of restraint and left it to the listener to narrate the story. For this, Brokaw may not break any sales records with Canaris, but it is undeniable that he has fulfilled a complete artistic statement.