It's hard to express the creative leap Broen made between their international debut and its follow-up better than the albums' titles do. On 2017's I <3 Art, the Norwegian collective were above all creative, channeling their passion into breaking any remaining boundaries between pop, jazz, electronic music, R&B, and hip-hop. On Do You See the Falling Leaves?, they use their genre-fluid sound to explore the connections between the desire to make art and the desire to reach out to others. They set the tone with "Where Is Passion?," a question so big that it doubles as a manifesto. Immersed in a wash of synths that attain a nearly cosmic scope, Marianna Røe searches for history, peace, and love before the track comes down to earth with a funky beat and a piano melody that tilts toward jazzy sophistication. On this song and throughout the album, Broen suggest the spark Røe is looking for is within the people around her. More than they did on I <3 Art, they lean into the humanity and sensuality of their music. The title track's sensuous nine-minute sprawl is remarkably intimate, thanks to the husky warmth of Røe's voice -- which calls to mind Joan as Police Woman's Joan Wasser -- and the surprising, charming combination of tuba and a scorched electric guitar solo. Broen give themselves the room to feel and share their emotions like never before, whether on the caressing slow jam "Shut Down" (one of their few bona fide love songs) or "Strings," which closes the album by celebrating the constant flux of life with breezy harmonies and saxophone. The boundless inventiveness the band showed on I <3 Art helps them make vital, and sometimes unexpected, connections between the personal and political on Do You See the Falling Leaves? "Lines" sets its musings on how nature can provide humankind a fresh start to a bright, volatile cocktail of surging post-punk and a lilting Afro-pop melody that sounds like a new beginning. Broen brings this same urgency to "Dorian Grays," a funky meditation on how we're all living on borrowed time, and "Bring It Closer," where Røe sounds more imperative each time she tells her lover to "pull the duvet up" while they're together in bed. With their adventurous sounds and vivid imagery, Broen balance the calls to action and moments of reflection on Do You See the Falling Leaves? just as ably as they unite sounds and people by celebrating their differences.
© Heather Phares /TiVo