While their band name may immediately evoke the recent bedroom pop explosion—which has gone the way of the term “indie rock” in no longer quite feeling appropriate for some of the stadium-filling recordings it catalogs—UK outfit bdrmm’s sound more accurately aligns with the late-night deep dives on music message boards from which the outfit’s sound appears to have been constructed. Their 2020 debut Bedroom borrowed from the lesser-explored corners of shoegaze and post-punk revivalism, while its follow-up I Don’t Know has thus far indicated that they’ve only traveled further down the hyperlink rabbithole since then.
Some of the reference points spanning the new LP maintain a sense of familiarity (early single “It’s Just a Bit of Blood” manages to incorporate at least two distinct eras of Radiohead in its sound), but for the most part this collection of songs is molded by an attraction to ambient and electronic sounds, as proven by the group’s collective interest in artists like Aphex Twin and Squarepusher. Rather than matching those artists’ frantic energy, though, I Don’t Know instead sticks with a brooding atmosphere that more closely resembles the dark tones of Mogwai, whose Rock Action label the album will arrive through.
Leading up to that release date, band members Jordan Smith and Joe Vickers are sharing a playlist reflecting what was on the speakers while their album came together, ranging from those aforementioned artists to more contemplative electronic sounds by Oneohtrix Point Never and Boards of Canada. See their playlist and writeups below, and pre-order I Don’t Know here before it drops this Friday.
Aphex Twin, “Xtal”
Jordan: I think we all collectively love Aphex Twin but in different ways. One track’s brilliance we all agree upon, though, is “Xtal.” The density of the reverb behind the beat is genius, and something that we constantly referenced when recording the album’s opening track, “Alps.” There’s a YouTube video deconstructing how he used an S3000XL to create the ambient instrumentation which is just mind-blowing. There’s a certain haunting quality that comes from making a tune on equipment like that.
Massive Attack, “Angel”
Jordan: We’ve been trying to cover this track for ages—one day it’ll hopefully pop up in a live show. Massive Attack are one of those bands where I could’ve really picked any track, but “Angel” takes the crown today. Everything within the beat feels so considered and has a specific reason for being there. This track became really influential when we were purposefully making tracks feel sparse, such as “Be Careful.”
The Smile, “The Smoke”
Joe: The album came out while we were on tour in Europe. It reminds me of listening to it with Jord while everyone was asleep driving through the Alps—turned out we went the wrong way. Love how minimal the arrangement is and the woodwind that comes in at the end.
Squarepusher, “Iambic 9 Poetry”
Jordan: Ryan showed me this track a few years ago and I was floored. I hadn’t heard this record from Squarepusher [Ultravisitor] before and if you haven’t, I’d definitely seek it out. It relies on three elements: live bass, live drums, and some synthetic backing. For such a grandiose and maximalist musician like Squarepusher to make something that’s so purposefully sparse is really inspiring and one of the things I love most about his music. It builds and builds into a final crescendo that makes you want to listen to the whole thing over again. A very special track to our band’s rhythm section.
Boards of Canada, “1969”
Jordan: Akin to Massive Attack, there could’ve been a number of Boards of Canada tunes in this playlist as they were in such heavy rotation whilst we were recording I Don’t Know. I settled on “1969” due to the number of hidden samples and references that permeate the song. Something we really wanted to include in certain tracks on the record was found sound and field recordings we’d been archiving over the years. Pitch shifting, reversing, and chopping these samples became second nature by the time we finished recording, and it makes the world of I Don’t Know feel so much more lived in.
Floating Points, “Falaise”
Joe: I love this record. Again, lots of lovely woodwind and very sparse. A great album opener.
Stars of the Lid, “The Atomium Part 2”
Jordan: One of the nights on the Mogwai tour Stuart told me about this band called Stars of the Lid that he’d been to see a few years back and that we’d really love them. After that I sought out everything I could find online and just listened over and over again whilst we were in the van. Their music is wonderfully textural but also so harmonically rich that you notice something different you love with each subsequent listen. As we built up the ambience for tracks like “Advertisement One” and “A Final Movement,” we would constantly refer to this record in an attempt to weave the same kind of sonic brilliance.
Steve Reich, “Music for 18 Musicians”
Jordan: Following my time at university I became really interested in minimalism and the music of Steve Reich. The rhythmic interplay between non-percussive instruments fascinated me, and I began to use varying degrees of phase-shifting throughout the record, mostly on arpeggiators and synths to give certain tracks an air of movement without resorting to the use of delay. We initially tried to do this with the pianos heard on “Advertisement One,” but we decided to focus on incorporating Conor’s drums into the arrangement instead.
Aerial M, “Dazed and Awake”
Joe: Nice kinda Duster-y slowcore vibe to this. We listened to a lot of Duster running up to recording the album. Maybe I should have picked Duster, but I really love this.
Nine Inch Nails, “La Mer”
Jordan: When we were touring with Mogwai last year I decided that was the perfect time to get into Nine Inch Nails. I really love their album Hesitation Marks and all Trent and Atticus’ ambient work, but this song from The Fragile really stood out to me. The arrangement feels all-consuming and develops in such a natural way with simple but harmonically rich melodies. This was the main source of inspiration for “Advertisement One.”
Björk, “Hidden Place”
Jordan: Alex [Greaves], our producer, is a massive Björk fan and when he heard that I hadn’t listened to her before he nearly exploded. Debut, Post, and Homogenic are amazing, but I properly fell in love with Vespertine when I first heard it. The emphasis on sub bass and sampling elements were really encouraging when we were recording “Hidden Cinema,” and became a constant reference point during the recording of the album.
Squarepusher, “Beep Street”
Joe: Ryan introduced the wonders of Squarepusher to me. Proper love the sound of the drums on this track.
Portishead, “It Could Be Sweet”
Jordan: It would be impossible to do one of these lists and not include Portishead. The sparse arrangement for “It Could Be Sweet” always seemed so self-assured and it was something that we really wanted to capture on “Be Careful.”
Oneohtrix Point Never, “Chrome Country”
Jordan: “A Final Movement” started out as a pretty straightforward guitar track that Ryan had recorded that sounded more akin to Duster and Bowery Electric in the early days. As we began to experiment more with synthesis, this track became our Bible. Oneohtrix Point Never always has these really rich and densely packed arrangements, and it became really inspiring when we began to incorporate sound design and field recordings into the record.
Cola, “Blank Curtain”
Joe: We were lucky enough to play with Cola a couple of times last year. They’re a great band and I love the sound of this track. It’s probably my most played track of the last year. The lovely joys of lo-fi production and a real nice vocal line to boot.
