Built to Spill Take a Psychedelic Turn on When the Wind Forgets Your Name

On the one hand, props to Doug Martsch for returning to his original vision for Built to Spill. When the singer and guitarist started the band in 1992, the idea was that he would be the sole constant member, with a rotating selection of musicians accompanying him from one album to the next. Then he ended up playing with some of the same people for a decade or more—bassist Brett Nelson was part of the band for 19 years, and contributed to the string of top-notch albums the band released in the ’90s and early 2000s.

Martsch announced in 2018 that he was going back to the non-permanent members plan, and then went off to tour South America backed by a couple of Brazilian musicians, Le Almeida and João Casaes of the psych-jazz-rock band Oruã. The shows went so well that Martsch kept playing with them throughout 2019. The trio started recording When the Wind Forgets Your Name, Built to Spill’s ninth and latest album, before the pandemic interrupted and they had to finish the songs remotely. Here’s where the concept of switching out bandmates starts to look shaky: Almeida and Casaes are really good, and their time in Built to Spill seems like it has already come to an end. (Martsch’s touring band this year comprises bassist Melanie Radford and drummer Teresa Esguerra, who are also very good.)

The three-piece format suits Martsch: These nine new tracks are lean and rugged, and the rhythm section is locked in behind the guitarist and singer as the trio rumbles through songs by turns sludgy and psychedelic. There’s more of a stoner-rock vibe here than on previous Built to Spill projects, which is apparent right from the start: Album opener “Gonna Lose” is built around a scuzzy guitar riff and a loose, ramshackle drum part that surges around Martsch’s voice as he makes reference to an acid trip (or maybe dreaming about an acid trip, but at a certain point, what’s the difference?).