Dirty Three - The Voice of the Violin

Anyone who thinks rock has run out of creative steam should take a closer look at Melbourne, Australia. Beyond its "bad seed" Nick Cave, this Oceanic metropolis has in recent years spawned a string of top-tier independent bands. Chief among them is the instrumental trio Dirty Three, who have coined a kind of "chamber folk-rock" that's as evocative as it is gripping. The extra weapon of this unusual Australian ensemble is Warren Ellis's violin: a supremely gifted musician and, by now, a permanent member of Nick Cave's Bad Seeds. Much as John Cale once did with the viola, Ellis has redrawn the role of this instrument within the rock idiom. No longer a byword for classical elegance, the violin, in the bony hands of this possessed sprite, becomes instead the devil's instrument once more: an alternative to the electric guitar, even more searing and violent. Starting from hushed, hypnotic opening phrases, Ellis always manages to build terrifying crescendos, in which the strings of his instrument seem almost on the verge of snapping, driven by a violence that calls to mind the exploits of the Sex Pistols and Pil far more than the impassioned romanticism of Black Tape For A Blue Girl.

Brutalized and bent to rock's depraved nature in this way, the violin loses its innocence for good, yet without giving up its most mournful, melancholy vibrations. Indeed, Dirty Three's sonic architecture would feel far too cold and geometric if it weren't shot through with a fatally crepuscular spirit — an aching atmosphere that brings their compositions close in spirit to those of another certified "visionary" of auteur music: Ennio Morricone. "The most important thing for us is the sadness in our music," explains drummer Jim White.

The effect is disorienting, bordering on avant-garde psychedelia, and a world away from the cerebral, contrived, mannered noodling of so many other instrumental slogs that defined the Nineties. Warren Ellis himself spells out the band's ultimate goal: "We set out to explore the lyrical specificity of each individual instrument, rather than staying tied to the traditional idea of the song."

Deliberately "rough" right from the name, the approach of this "Dirty Trio" nonetheless never loses sight of a sense of balance reminiscent of their "classical" training. Credit is also due to Mick Turner's rhythm guitar, which ranges across a broad spectrum of sounds, from jazz virtuosity to flourishes bordering on punk. Turner is also the man behind the album covers: evocative figurative renderings of their songs in just a few brushstrokes, dense with color, blurring and bleeding into one another — almost a chromatic depiction of their sonic kaleidoscope, which ranges from folk to blues, from jazz to psychedelia. Among their influences, one can't help but mention Albert Ayler's free jazz, as well as the acoustic experiments of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra and the Third Ear Band. And the dark allure of their sound couldn't escape the notice of fellow Melburnian Nick Cave, who not only enlisted Ellis for his live shows (his violin solo on "Stagger Lee" is simply unforgettable for anyone who saw it live) but also co-wrote several pieces with the trio for the soundtrack of the TV series X-Files. Further proof of the distinctly "visionary" bent of their work, the three also scored Carl Dreyer's silent film "The Passion of Joan of Arc" and the Australian film "Praise".

Raised in Melbourne's underground scene, right after their full-length debut Sad And Dangerous (bolstered by the "existential" ballad "Kim's Dirt" and the quasi-noise fury of "Short Break"), Dirty Three set off on a long pilgrimage across the United States and Europe that turns them into true rock globetrotters. During this period, the trio play support slots with Nick Cave, Rickie Lee Jones, Beck, Beastie Boys, John Cale, John Spencer Blues Explosion, Pavement and Henry Rollins. This leads to a deal with Touch&Go, one of the leading labels of the then-emerging "post-rock" scene.

Dirty Three further hones their style through tracks of powerful emotional impact, such as the opener "Indian Love Song", a torrential ten-minute jam for guitar and drums, with Ellis first subtly tormenting and then hammering the strings of his violin in the background. "Better Go Home", on the other hand, is a classic example of the reverse: here it's Ellis who takes command with his violin, backed by White's martial drumming and Turner's incisive guitar. Weaving between the band's three core instruments is an accordion that sounds, at times, very French ("Odd Couple") and, at others, very country ("In The Last Night").

A transitional work, but also one that shows their sound maturing, the follow-up Horse Stories helps boost Dirty Three's profile further, landing at number three in mainstream magazine "Rolling Stone"'s list of the best albums of 1996. This time, long ballads dominate, such as "1000 Miles", "I Knew It Would Come To This" and — above all — the aching "Horse", which effectively distill the band's two main moods: the romantic-melancholic and the cacophonous-punk. Detonating the record, meanwhile, is the white-hot waltz of "I Remember A Time When You Use", a showcase of power and clamor bordering on noise.

It's with Ocean Songs (1998), however, that the Australian trio strikes straight at the heart of the rock audience, establishing themselves as one of the decade's most important acts. Their success owes something, too, to the production of Steve Albini, guru of American independent rock. Ocean Songs is a concept album dedicated to the sea, built on ethereal, melancholy motifs steeped in classical and jazz references. On "Black Tide", for instance, the drums mimic the undertow, the violin the wind, the guitar the lapping water. It's as if waves were crashing between the notes, the wind blowing, the gulls and sirens singing. But there's also that melancholy felt by anyone sailing the oceans or gazing at the sea from the shore — an atmosphere that reaches its most ecstatic point in the long suite "Deep Waters".

Every groove of this record is steeped in an enchanted lyricism, carrying the sour tang of sea salt and the dark hues of the deep. Turner's understated guitar arpeggios throw open the gates to this submerged Atlantis on the opening "Sirena", soon pursued by Ellis's nervous violin and White's steady beat: from here comes the usual crescendo, enriched by overdubbed violin and viola chasing each other in sublime spirals. It's Ellis's romantic streak that comes to the fore on "The Restless Waves", unveiling a sumptuous melody that hurls the listener into a dimension without space or time; once again the onomatopoeic element returns, with White's cymbals mimicking the sound of waves breaking against the cliffs. "Distant Shore" then restores the calm, setting Turner's minimal guitar phrases against Ellis's violin forays. The latter is the undisputed star of the lengthy "Authentic Celestial Music", in which, as on the following "Backwards Voyager", guest David Grubbs underpins the sound with liquid piano chimes and the hum of the harmonium. The winding textures of "Last Horse on the Sand" and "Sky Above, Sea Below" represent the calm before the storm of "Deep Waters": eleven minutes of tidal wave, with White's mighty drumming raising, alongside Ellis's violin, an imposing wall of sound that sweeps away and engulfs everything. On the closing "Ends of the Earth", Ellis splits his time between violin and piano, producing a series of subtle sonic oscillations, barely rippled by White's brushes.

Sailing through these grooves, one loses all contact with reality and slips slowly into a contemplative dimension. It's an idea, as much as a musical formula, with no precedent in rock, yet one that has led critics to liken Dirty Three to the "spleen"-stricken songwriting of Palace, Lambchop and Spain, and above all to the best of post-rock — the kind built on soul rather than mere virtuosity. But Ellis won't hear of it: "A journalist writing a thesis on post-rock interviewed me, saying she'd cited Tortoise and Dirty Three as examples of the style. I had to confess I didn't even know what post-rock was! These labels are wasted energy: music is music. Thank God!" On that note, there's no shortage of mystical tension running through Dirty Three's songs either. Ellis confirms as much: "I need something to justify my existence. I believe deeply in spirituality."

Preceded by the two EPs Sharks and Ufkuko, the 2000 album Whatever You Love You Are carries forward the path begun in 1995 with Dirty Three, through six long tracks that are clear, moving and evocative, only slightly roughened by a recording that occasionally brushes up against lo-fi and by a performance that is anything but academic. The splendid opening suite, "Some summers they drop like flys", steeped in an irresistible melancholy, may well rank as their masterpiece. "It's our most solid, most concrete record," explains Ellis. "We moved toward more structured forms, toward a more intense process of refinement that shed some of the excess rigidity." The fruits of this labor are multifaceted compositions, capable of winning over listeners weaned on punk and raised on a steady diet of electronic aesthetics and refined post-rock. Such musical complexity is also explained by the richly cross-pollinated history of the three Australians, who split their time between Paris, London and Chicago.

In 2001 Dirty Three return with Lowlands, a record with a more subdued tone, in which the presence of violin and piano is scaled back in favor mainly of guitars. The result, however, aside from a couple of good tracks like "Kangaroo" and "Lowlands", doesn't quite measure up to their previous work. There were also numerous side projects keeping Ellis, Turner and White busy: worth mentioning at least are Turner's two solo albums, Tren Phantasma and Marlan Rosa, the latter's collaboration (as Marquis de Tren) with Will Oldham on the mini-CD "Get On Jolly", the self-titled EP by Tren Brothers (aka Turner and White), as well as Ellis's arrangements on Nick Cave's "No More Shall We Part".

She Has No Strings Apollo (2003) is another journey into their music, suspended between melancholy and poignant lyricism. The sonic spectrum of Ellis and his bandmates embraces both the romantic musical pages that distinguished their previous work and the typical blues of Nick Cave's ballad repertoire. "With this record I feel like I've closed a circle, as if we'd gone back to the beginning, but having also added something - says Warren Ellis - I think it means something to share ten years on stage and writing songs. And it's something that shouldn't be taken for granted."

The journey moves between noise and post-rock, blues and country, tradition and modernity. Dirty Three are more in sync than ever, yet ever more true to themselves. Here and there a memorable melody pops up ("Sister Let Them Try And Follow"), the odd foray into more traditionally rock territory ("Rude"), along with moments of unmistakable class (the elegiac "Long Way To Go With No Punch", with Ellis's piano to the fore, the raga of "Alice Wading", the "classical" composition of the title track). The elements that made Dirty Three's music great are all still present, but they no longer seem to gel the way they once did. Almost as if to prove that even an instrumental band can, at times, lose its "voice".

Thanks in part to contributions from Chan Marshall aka Cat Power and Sally Timms of the Mekons, Dirty Three turn to "vocals" on Cinder (2005), nineteen tracks that attempt to steer the trio back onto the magical routes of the turn of the millennium.

The range of instruments is expanded further: from viola to bouzouki, from mandolin to bass. And there's no shortage of inspired moments, starting with the lovely single "Great Waves", in which Cat Power's pathos lends new colours to the three Australians' instrumental canvases. More classically Dirty Three are instrumental pieces like "Flutter", a condensed, nerve-wracking slice of chamber music, and the more melancholy "Too Soon Too Late", carried along on western cadences by Calexico-style guitars, while "Doris" even offers a few funk flourishes grafted onto a folk-rooted weave. "She Passed Through" is a small exercise in rhythmic deconstruction, not far removed from the experiments of Books.

Beyond the trio's undeniable skill and the intact elegance of their sound, one gets the impression that the magical wave of the "Ocean Songs" has by now entered its ebb tide.

The following Toward The Low Sun, entirely instrumental, is first and foremost a return to the past. The trio's style remains instantly recognisable: slow, sprawling ballads in the vein of "Ocean Songs" alternate without major surprises ("Moon On The Land", or the nostalgic "Ashen Snow"), with decidedly more aggressive pieces like "That Was Was", where the violin is completely distorted, and restless post-rock ("Rising Below", with its relentless drive, features two violins chasing each other).

The less conventional, and more interesting, songs are placed at the start: "Furnace Skies" is a bacchanal driven by chaotic percussion over which Turner and Ellis slowly build a wall of psychedelic sound, constantly accompanied by a relentless guitar loop; the beauty of "Sometimes I Forget You've Gone", on the other hand, lies entirely in the contrast between a schizophrenic drum part that proceeds independently of a slow, honeyed melody.

After the album released in 2012, a long period of collaborations and side projects begins for Dirty Three: drummer Jim White explores the boundaries between jazz and experimental rock, collaborating with Marisa Anderson, George Xylouris and Myriam Gendron. Guitarist Mick Turner channels the band's more romantic soul into the Mess Esque project shared with Helen Franzmann, while Warren Ellis shares with Nick Cave a passion for soundtracks and frequent forays into the darker recesses of the human soul.

Finding Dirty Three back together twelve years after the worthy but unsurprising Toward The Low Sun might, at first glance, look like yet another strategic reunion, but thankfully the album tells a very different story. The first real surprise of Love Changes Everything (2024) is the shift in register compared to their most recent efforts: the album recaptures that early-career fervour which seemed lost, with Dirty Three exploring hazy textures, slow-motion harmonies, and residual fragments of melancholy with unexpected creative fury. Made up of six tracks that reuse the album's title with a simple numerical variation, the record sets aside the old post-rock ambitions in favour of a jazz-noise excursion that taps into the maverick spirit of early Impulse recordings and the calm chaos of certain post-hardcore outfits. Warren Ellis at times sets aside his all-too-iconic violin sound for piano textures halfway between Erik Satie and Bill Evans ("Love Changes Everything II"), before restoring its seductive, disorienting timbre for an irrepressible buzz through the dizzying harmonic shifts of "Love Changes Everything VI", a track that reshapes the feverish minimalism of "Love Changes Everything V" into a dreamlike immersion - icy, musically exploratory and saturated all at once.

As well as closing the circle on the many variations on a theme, "Love Changes Everything IV" revives the enchanting, placid beauty of Ocean Songs, almost as if to temper the riff-and-noise-saturated energy bursting out of "Love Changes Everything I", a track that opens the album while also foreshadowing its freer yet equally dramatic nature. A fine comeback for Dirty Three.

Contributions by Andrea Vascellari ("Toward The Low Sun"), Gianfranco Marmoro ("Love Changes Everything")

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