While I’m used to hearing wonky lead guitars, getting to grips with a full on bassline wonk is a new experience – and what a darkly, delicious one it is.
So starts, ‘Waiting For The Thunder’ the latest single from Norwegian indie-electro outfit, Apothek. Comprising Morten Myklebust on vocals and synth wizard Nils Martin Larsen, Apothek has been on a continuous upward trajectory, given something of a turbo boost by their bagging the support gig for Queen of Norway, Susanne Sundfor, on her recent tour of Europe.
The buckled bassline makes for an intense and dramatic opener, one that instantly engages the listener, drawing them into the songs dark, brooding underbelly. And brooding it is, as it dwells on the transience of all things, and a past distorted by imperfect recall.
“It’s about distance, about travelling; the spaces and places we leave behind,” explains vocalist Morten Myklebust. The sentiment is skewed in “little glimpses of memory that warp the truth,” he says. “How absolutely everything is temporary.”
Skewed sentiment, skewed sonics and a semi-skewed vocal, all brought together in perfect contorted harmony. Shots of percussion like tiny bolts of static, pepper through the continuous bassline thrum, over which a demi-robo, icy vocal, adds to an already heightened sense of stormy expectation.
When the “thunder” finally comes it releases spectacular synth and vocal melodies that burst through the songs darkly layered atmosphere like shards of lightning, heralding the much awaited light of a new dawn at the end of a long, dark, heady night.
Speaking of their musical move to the “darkside”, Nils Martin Larsen offers, “It’s a bit icier and more distant than ‘Family’. The first part of the track was the skating-on-ice kind of bass line that goes all over the place pitch wise, which felt kind of new.
It’s also the first time we started experimenting with tuning of vocals which turned out to be a big part of the record,” he concludes.
‘Waiting For The Thunder’ is a solemn chant that rumbles distortedly, slowly building to a glorious melodic thunderburst that cuts through the sonic storm to open up a light filled sky of optimism.
‘Waiting For The Thunder’ is out on release now – taken from Apothek’s forthcoming debut LP, out this year via Propeller Recordings.
Check out the Social links for Apothek, check in and stay up to date with all their news. You’ll also find details of their Euro/UK tour dates on their website/FB page. apothekmusic.com | facebook.com/apothekmusic
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