Every decade or so, A.A. Bondy gives himself a sonic equivalent of a haircut — whether he needs it or not. Back in the late ’90s when he was going by Scott Bondy, he was the frontman of woefully underappreciated post-grunge outfit Verbena, whose 1999 Dave Grohl-produced album In The Pink is one of the best albums you’ve never heard. When they broke up in 2003, he became an alt-folk traditionalist, stripping his music and songwriting down to the barest acoustic bones. Now, on Enderness, his first album in eight years, he reconnects with the modern world, using synthesizers, beatboxes and plenty of atmospheric textures to colour his sombre late-night vocals and jaundiced examinations of our current dystopian existence. Tackling everything from the opioid crisis to the California wildfires that burned down his home, Enderness is a long way from easy listening. If that doesn’t suit you, no problem; just come back in about eight years for his next incarnation.
