Today, I’m delighted to welcome guest blogger and friend, Eddie Sweetman, to the site. Eddie is one of my closest musical partners in crime, who I think you’ll agree, has a rather a flair for pretty hip music reviews! Here he has penned his insightful and well informed thoughts on Apothek‘s ‘Waiting for the Thunder’, along with its accompanying visual.
Eddie is an English/German/Irish hybrid lover of music since 1975. He adores all things electronic/bleak/dystopian and glacial from Joy Division to John Grant via Depeche Mode. He also has a crackingly good sense of humour!
Apothek: ‘Waiting for the Thunder’
I came to this track via a very knowledgeable friend who asked me to listen and give my thoughts. To be honest, I came with preconceived assumptions, which to Apothek’s credit, have been ripped apart at the seams. Having no knowledge of the band at all, I did the usual YouTube, Wiki, Google searches, all of which opened my eyes and ears to this wonderfully evocative track.
I had no idea that the video was “live”, as is the track, and I much prefer this version to the original mix. To these ears, the original mix, whilst interesting and well produced, didn’t really stand out. I could hear Mirrors and even White Lies in the crescendo at about 3/4 the way through. To me, it’s too uplifting, and doesn’t fit the lyrical nature of the track. However, the live version elevates the song to above any of its peers.
Bleak and stark, it demands repeated listening to pick out the subtleties within the arrangement. At 1.20 the sequencer just merges within the melody, at 2.02 the double piano chord (I think!) descends with an impending sense of doom. There’s a sense of fragility underpinning the stark electronics, which is mesmerising. It reminds me of ‘No Harm’ by Editors, another track stripped back and initially reliant on minimal electronic arrangement. It is also held together by a beautiful vocal delivery, as is this. In Apothek’s case, the vocal captivates and isolates the listener and any song that has the line “Play your lousy game and kill me” needs to be heard and understood.
The video, produced by Nils Martin Larsen, was shot in an abandoned warehouse in Norway, which apparently, was the scene of many 90s raves. The juxtaposition between that and the empty room “imprisoning” the band heightens the desolation of the subject matter and drags your attention back to the simplicity of the song.
“Lies are showed with Diamonds, Not with your answers”
2016 is looking set to be an exciting year for emerging Norwegian musician, EERA.
To kick-start the NY, EERA has just released her debut single, ‘Drive with Fear’ the launch of which she immediately followed with an amazing live performance at the Line of Best Fit, Five Day Forecast Festival. EERA is now set to play the Eurosonic Festival in Groningen, The Netherlands, on January 14th , with more live dates due to be announced. She will cap all of that off with the launch of her debut eponymous EP on 4th March! Nothing like hitting the 2016 ground running.
Newbie EERA is Norway-born, London-based singer-songwriter Anna Lena Bruland, who originally hails from the coastal-town of Drøbak, just outside Oslo. Having been based in London for some time now, it is here that the darker, more introspective side of her songwriting has been realised and developed.
EERA’s debut single, ‘Drive with Fear’, is a fascinating reflective indie-pop ballad, honestly and tenderly performed, which has a captivating purity and admirable subtleness.
“I`ll take my road before I dive down to my stories, Down to where the others bleed
With colors made of stone And rivers left alone”
The lyrics are both mystical and tangible – they reference dreams, death, the past, other worldliness, against an incongruous backdrop of tangible shapes, precious materials, textures and vivid colours. The words evoke vague scenarios which contrast dramatically with their very palpable natural surrounds. ‘Drive with Fear’ is a musical cauldron filled with an array of feelings, actions and images – the hunter, the lovers, driving, diving, fear, courage – it runs the gamut. It is song full of movement, lyrically and musically, yet the vocal conveys a wistful or shadowy tranquility.
EERA’s beautiful and vividly expressive voice has both the clarity and Himalayan range of Maggie Reilly and the slightly impure timbre of Farao; it is a voice full of humanity and real emotion that is as compellingly evocative as it is aesthetically pleasing.
Her vocal flits and floats above a pared back instrumental that quietly bubbles along until it springs into melodic gorgeousness on the chorus. Again, EERA gifts us with an inspired juxtaposition of opposites – the melancholic, thrumming dark of the verse pitted against the “diamond” bright effervescence of the chorus.
‘Drive with Fear’ is an exceptionally genius piece of song writing and reflects EERA’s obvious talent as both an intuitive and inventive lyricist, and highly skilled composer. For a debut single, this is an incredibly high card with which to lead, so one must assume that EERA is playing a strong hand. Her EP is to be keenly anticipated, and one I feel, that will not fail to live up to expectations.
Listen to ‘Drive with Fear’ here … See below for details of how to buy/stream.
“This one goes out to our tenacious patriarchs, thanks for keeping us in line. Though there’s been some minor bumps along the way, these geezers are bent to stay. So when shit hits the fan… Open this can of worms, they said it would be good for you … “
Rising from the ashes of Angelica’s Elegy the resplendently named, Gold Celeste, bring psych-jazz-alt serenity to a new level with their serrated edged album, ‘The Glow’. Don’t be fooled by the laid back stance of the sounds – this album’s lyrical content is “full metal jacket “.
Gold Celeste is Norwegian trio Simen Hallset on keys/vocals, Petter Andersen on percussion, and, multi-instrumentalist Eirik Fidjeland, an original member of Dråpe, who coincidentally re-joined his fellow indie-gazers, earlier this year.
‘The Glow’ is the result of two years of hermetic creativity, and is an album of several interwoven thematic strands including the diversity of human nature, disappearance of “community”, societal apathy, oppression and regression, as well as our scant regard for environmental destruction.
Album opener ‘Can of Worms’, clocks in at just under seven minutes – pretty long for an opening track. A song with an uber slow, mellow vibe, it kicks off with the most fascinating intro made up of what sounds like snippets from TV or Film, together with random snatches of noise, washed over by the most divine pastoral instrumental. Followed by a second extended intro, it is well over two minutes before the “vocal proper” kicks in. Softly nuanced, dreamy vocals are redolent of those sugar coated sweets that only reveal their acridity when bitten through. The lyrics are like bullets of sarcasm being fired through a gauzy haze, the melodious autumnal warmth of which serves to make Hallset’s vocal hook “they said it would be good for you” all the more memorable.
“Our potential is of both being infinitely hateful, and infinitely loving. This is ‘The Glow’”
‘Can of Worms’ is very jazz-blues oriented, lightly interspersed with a few glimpses of pysch, and some sprinklings of synth fairy lights as it dreamily closes out. It gives me the feeling of a song being heard in slow-motion, with its almost dead-stop RS (excepting the odd percussive ripple), sparse synth, and trance-like vocals. Entrancing, undulating, melodious – it is a song whose beauty is somewhat uglified by the darkness of the lyric.
“This is just a friendly wake up call, I’d rather see you dance, than trip and fall”
‘But a Poem’ follows. Just over one minute of lovely Norwegian Simon & Garfunkel acoustic guitar and in sync harmonies layered over a rivulet of synth, flows seamlessly into lazy dazey, ‘Open Your Eyes’. Released as a single earlier this year, sonically this is one of the strongest tracks on the album. It is a blend of effective 60s jazz style drumming from Andersen, wonky spacious synth, and magnetic laid back low lying basslines that draw you down under ethereal harmonies. The intermittent ear-catching synth sequence reminds me somewhat of the Bond-esque string/synth riff in Robbie Williams, ‘Millenium’, albeit of a different tempo and key. If there is a golden celeste and warm glow to any song on this album, it is to this one.
Thematically, ’Open Your Eyes’ is as hard hitting but yet more subtle than, ‘Can of Worms’. Open your eyes fully and focus on what’s around you. Become aware of your prejudices, your preconceptions, stumbling blocks you’ve built or society has built, to impede you, justice, integration, social fluidity. It’s a pretty neat and effective use of imagery to convey the theme.
“We’re all sharing the experience of life. If you can’t picture a world filled with a diversity of societies and cultures getting along, you’ve got to open your eyes and expose the obstacles in our way for what they truly are. Human nature they are not.”
‘The Dreamers’ is the slow-set song without the romance. Random drumming and Manzarek style 60s keyboard sounds flush with some insistent repetitive chord sequences, make up the body. Practically inaudible gently hypnotic cyclical guitar and airy synth riffs play out an enchanting melody. A barely there vocal and gorgeously soft music combine to create a lullaby for ‘the dreamers’.
Contrary to popular opinion, ‘Grand New Spin’ is my favourite track on this album. It’s Thom Yorke and Radiohead jamming with the Beatles after a Norwegian make-over. A rush of Yorke-style harmonies opens, backed only by a gentle acoustic guitar. The song evolves nicely bringing in sounds from this very strong RS unit – subtle but hugely expressive and intuitive bass and percussive lines firmly underpin. But, this is Fidjelands song – without doubt, his interpretative skills are as finely honed as his guitar skills are exceptional.
As a boppy, poppy counterpoint to the placidity of its predecessor, ‘Time of Your Life’ is an up tempo 60s toe-tapping 4 time pop tune – a bit Mommas and Poppas, a bit Beach Boys. With some lush “horn” sections and Fidjeland rocking out and letting rip on electric guitar, this is probably the most mainstream track on the album. Loud bass, lots of cymbals and noisy drums, this track creates a positively happy atmosphere in line with the theme – get on with your life and enjoy it!
Runner up favourite track, ‘Pastures’, is 51 seconds of jazz brilliance, messy keys sounds and exquisite, natty drumming. Think Duke Ellington and Pat Methany jamming after a few beers. Smashed it!
‘Is This What You Could Not Do’, sung by Fidjeland is 100% proof, pure shoegaze. It is a muzzy meld of wonderful fuzzed up and chiming guitars, 60s pysch drumming (very Doors) and Carnaby Street bass. With some groovy instrumentals and immensely lovely vocal harmonies, this is the one for the dream-poppers. The theme of coping with the stresses and strains suffered under the weight of the creative process is obvious from the bluntly honest title. Once again lush sounds swirl around thought provoking lyrics.
Dreamy shoegaze is immediately followed by bonkers wonk, as we find Gold Celeste tripping out in ‘You and I’, with more 60s “far out” keyboard playing mixing it up with layer upon layer of guitar. More imaginative drumming from Andersen helps the track evolve nicely, and with its amazing melody and wide spaces between verse and chorus, this is an hugely imaginative musical composition that closes with a superb long guitar sequence through which wash waves of synth.
The penultimate track on this album is another mini-instrumental. ‘On the Brink’ is literally “on the brink”, with its jazzy drumming and synth loops.
‘The Glow’ ends with what seems to be “the music critics” favourite, ‘The Start of Something Beautiful’; six minutes of gear changing, decadent gorgeousness. It’s a louche track; rhythmic, interchangeable and enigmatic. Thrumming base, layered vocals, whirring synths, grow and evolve whilst muffled talking in the background piques our curiosity, and subtle but effective guitar playing remains faded into the background. It is a mighty fine ending to a very strong album.
Gold Celeste has been touring this album since its release and have just confirmed two London dates on 7th and 9th of December, see their FB page, details below. According to vocalist Simen, they hope to play some alternative and extended versions of some of the songs from ‘The Glow’ and, judging by reports in from their Euro gigs to-date, anyone thinking of going to see them play live, won’t be disappointed.
‘The Glow’ is an album whose sound is of such magnitude and beauty, and whose lyrics are so adroitly penned, that it is more like a soundtrack to life than a shiny vinyl Lp. It exemplifies the trios skilled musicianship and masterful song writing talents and is the embodiment of persistence, determination and a profound desire to publicly vocalise strong held opinions and beliefs.
Self-produced, beautifully polished, this is musicianship as its finest, and music as it should be. 10/10
dervswerve 