Winter Songs [Digipak] by The Art Bears (CD, Feb-2005, ReR USA)
**Album Review: Art Bears - *Winter Songs* (1979)**
In 1979, the British avant-garde collective *Art Bears* released *Winter Songs*, their second album and perhaps one of the most striking statements in the canon of experimental rock. Born out of the disbanding of Henry Cow, the trio—comprising Fred Frith (guitar, bass, violin, and more), Chris Cutler (drums, percussion, lyrics), and Dagmar Krause (vocals)—pushed musical boundaries, blending politically charged lyrics with unsettling sonic landscapes. Their sound is angular, atonal, and deliberately confrontational, a defiant stand against the mainstream music trends of the era.
*Winter Songs* was released on *ReR USA*, a label founded by Cutler under the banner of Recommended Records. This label was instrumental in distributing radical, non-commercial music, and became a touchstone for the Rock in Opposition (RIO) movement. RIO, co-founded by Henry Cow, aimed to unite bands that rejected the corporate music industry, both musically and ideologically. With ReR USA, Cutler helped to shape an independent distribution network for this experimental fringe, making *Winter Songs* part of a larger cultural pushback against musical conformity.
The album is based on medieval depictions of the seasons, particularly focusing on the desolation of winter. Cutler's lyrics evoke a world that is cold, harsh, and often hostile, reflecting broader themes of alienation and human struggle. The music mirrors these ideas: Fred Frith’s fractured guitar work is unpredictable, frequently shifting between jagged dissonance and delicate phrasing. Krause's voice—an uncompromising, operatic instrument—conveys both fragility and power, moving through the songs with an eerie precision.
What distinguishes *Winter Songs* is its sheer minimalism. The compositions are short—none exceeding four minutes—yet they are dense, demanding the listener's full attention. There is no easy entrance to the music; its jagged rhythms, dissonant chords, and jarring transitions create a sense of perpetual unease. The tension between Krause's emotive delivery and the stark instrumental backing generates an atmosphere that feels simultaneously ancient and modern, reflecting the cyclical nature of history and the ever-present struggles of humanity.
Songs like "First Things First" and "The Hermit" highlight the band's interplay of political commentary and bleak musicality. The former, with its repetitious, chanted lyrics, evokes the cold indifference of authority, while the latter takes on a more introspective tone, with Krause’s vocals threading through a sparse, haunting arrangement.
As part of Art Bears’ trilogy, *Winter Songs* stands as a centerpiece—more abstract and conceptually cohesive than their debut *Hopes and Fears*, yet a precursor to the even more extreme minimalism of their third album, *The World As It Is Today* (1981). Together, these albums encapsulate Art Bears' unique position in the progressive rock and avant-garde scenes, rejecting the genre’s indulgent tendencies in favor of a more politically and sonically radical approach.
This album, and the work of Art Bears as a whole, remains a critical document of late-1970s experimental music. It challenges the listener not only to confront the music’s inherent difficulty but to consider the larger world it reflects—a world that, for all its progress, continues to face cycles of destruction and renewal.
*Winter Songs* is an unrelenting, vital album for those who seek music that dares to question both form and content. It is essential listening for anyone tracing the evolution of avant-garde rock, political music, or the continuing influence of Rock in Opposition.