Portland band Fruition released an album entitled Wild as the Night at the end of 2019. It takes a certain kind of band to release a new album only months later. The companion piece to Wild as the Night is Broken at the Break of Day, in which the band shows how comfortable it is moving in between genres.
The first thing that strikes you about this album is the similarity to Crosby, Stills, and Nash. You can hear it immediately in the guitar tone at the beginning of “Dawn”. The similarity is even more striking when you hear the harmony vocals in the chorus. The melody has a decidedly folky feel, but the beat will have you tapping your feet. This somewhat prepares you for the rest of the album in that you can’t predict what’s next.
“Where Can I Turn” is a significantly different song with more of a soul feel. The soul feel comes from the vocals, the guitar tone, and the bass line. The lyrics of this song are poignant. The narrator muses, “We sabotage our hearts to what end? We got to help one another if we’re ever going to mend.” The lyrics “I can’t keep on running with the same old crew” are universally relatable for anyone who has ever felt the need for a change in life.
The band moves easily from the soulful sounds of “Counting the Days” with vocals by Mimi Naja to the alt-country sounds of “For You”. With the organ in the background, the slightly raspy vocals, and the rock guitar sounds, the latter has a sort of Drive-By Truckers vibe. And if that weren’t enough, “Do What You Want” has a different feel than any other song on the album. The distorted guitar brings something of an MC5 feel to the song while the rhythm section is reminiscent of The Rolling Stones. Meanwhile the piano kind of carries its own thread throughout the song. It is both a part of the song and its own entity.
This album shows the range of this band. This is a band that can go from 70s-style rock to thought-provoking alt-country – all in a span of seven songs and 23 minutes. There’s certainly something to be said for a band that is unpredictable. This band certainly qualifies as unpredictable, and that’s not a bad thing. Broken at the Break of Day will be available everywhere on January 17. Order your copy here.