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Uncomfortably New. Elenne May
Elenne May goes back years on this blog. It has been silent around the band for years though. Almost two years ago the Amsterdam band started the try outs for a theatre show. If I remember correctly, the band was able to do one show and I was not there. A weekend full of activities, including the farewell show of Canshaker Pi and a football match. And then everything went quiet, everywhere. Come February 2022 and Elenne May is ready to work towards the theatre show that is now planned for October 2022. In the meantime the band releases five singles accompanied by video's. The first single is Uncomfortably New. In sound the song is immediately recognisable as an Elenne May song. The mix of pop, folk, and a darker streak containing some(times barely hidden) sadness or anger. The threatening or better threatened atmosphere that certainly is one part of the band's sound. The rhythm in the verses however suggests movement, progression, change. The chorus is the bog sucking the song in, drowning it. “Everything feels uncomfortable”, Elenne May sings, confronting the listener with the uncomfortableness. Beware for the giant climax in the form of a guitar explosion played by guitarist Roeland Scherff though, releasing the inner tension of Uncomfortably New. The explosion is as effective as it is exciting. And then listen to the final "Everything feels uncomfortable". Catharsis has taken place, as the world has been turned upside down. There's a new question: who is uncomfortable now? Who is chained now? Elenne May rattled her chains and is freed.
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| Artwork: Jaap Scheeren |
Listening to Custom Pope for the first time, I'm reeling through the years, to quote Steely Dan. The new No Ninja Am I track is a circa 1980 West Coast pop/singer-songwriter song if I ever heard one. Everything about it is as slick as the Christopher Crosses and Rupert Holmeses of the time could muster. In other words, the music is crystal clear, like looking into an undisturbed sunlit lake with the bottom almost within reach. Literally every instrument and percussion can be heard separately. All Sander van Munster has to do is sing the best he can to smooth things over just this little more. Which he does here in all the right ways. Custom Pope is a pop ballad in a style hat went out of fashion a couple of decades ago, but these songs still come by regularly, so why not add one to the roster, nostalgic radio stations? I doubt if they come better in 2022. Is this truly my kind of music? No, but I can spot a beautifully made song with a lot of love going into it when I hear one.
Can music be too bizarre? Yes, it can. The third single of Glasgow's Walt Disco's upcoming album 'Unlearning', mixes so many sounds and influences that it becomes impossible to hear the song itself. And at that it jumps out of each and every expectation coming with the influences. There's Franz Ferdinand in the rhythms, until Sparks comes in, so FFS. Don't forget David Bowie in his most theatrical singing voice. The antics of the Scissor Sisters come by. With this all comes a level of madness that is impossible for me to follow. Simply too many buttons are pushed at once. How Cool You Are leaves me totally flabbergasted. If that was the goal, mission accomplished, sir.
With Flower Souls the focus track of Eelke's new EP was released recently. The song has it one foot firmly in the kind of ballads that were popular around 1980. Christopher Cross scored a few hits at the time in this style. The singer-songwriter adds his own flavour to the sound. A manifestation of a song that keeps flowing. The acoustic guitar does not let go of the song for a single second. Supported by the drums it gives Flower Souls not only a body also the firmness the softly dancing voice needs to impress. Over this body all sorts of nice extra's are sprinkled, giving the song its lightness. Flageolets, solo notes on the electric guitar and the bass guitar that plays somewhere between support and solo with slick fretless accents added as extra's. Flower Souls is the next song that is added to Eelke's ever nicer expanding oeuvre. Tomorrow Same Time is out, so go check it out.
Met Zo Waren De Dagen, de debuutsingle van de Zeeuwse band De Toegift, voegt het Utrechtse label Snowstar Records een nieuwe act aan zijn bestand toe. Zo Waren De Dagen is een zeer dromerig nummer dat midden in de winter een warme, lome zomer aankondigt. De vergelijkingen laten zich makkelijk maken. Het Amsterdamse trio De Breek, met zanger Sander van Munster (No Ninja Am I) voorop en The Avonden zijn als invloed makkelijk te duiden. Daarnaast kan het nummer gevangen worden in de term dreampop. Het nummer is zo zacht, maar niet bescheiden. De Toegift maakt wel degelijk haar punt. Het heeft daar geen "geweld" voor nodig. Het nummer is nog niet begonnen of de hemelse koortjes vliegen me al om de oren. De tekst is pure poëzie, als in, ik begrijp er niet veel van; maar dat zal wel aan mij liggen. De melodie ligt prettig in het gehoor, de begeleiding zwelt aan en neemt af. Als een golf in de zee waarvoor gezongen wordt of de lichtstralen die verdwijnen aan het einde van de dag. Zo Waren De Dagen is een mooie introductie met een nieuwe band. Op 1 april volgt er meer met EP 'En Ik Kon Alles Zien'. Dat wil ik wel meemaken voor en keer.
Another rock duo with a huge sound, impossible to reproduce together on stage. Oh Hiroshima from Sweden was unknown to me until just now. This single has the band working towards its new, upcoming album 'Myriad', its fourth. The song is an example of grandeur in rock music. Grandeur, because it always remains in style. Like nobility never letting its guard down. The beginning of All Things Past is slow, mysterious. A single note repeated by a delay, I'd guess. Then drums kick in. Tough, loud, solid, not leaving any doubts that the listener is about to rock. More and more guitars and either keyboards or completely worked over, effect-laden guitars, come in. Until it all moves away again and the soft singing voice of Jakob Hemström takes over the song. All Things Pass moves forward in a monumental style, leaving very little room for doubt. No hole is left unfilled in the sound Oh Hiroshima produces. The sound is huge, somewhat cold, but impressive none the same.
Did I use the term dreampop today already? Well, here is one of the ultimate bands in that genre. Warpaint's single 'Love Is To Die' in my opinion is probably the best dreampop song ever made. And nothing came close, including anything the band itself released since. This conclusion includes Champion I'm afraid. Now with that behind us, let's focus on Champion. During the first minute, I was about to strike the song from this roster. That would have been a sincere mistake. Slowly but surely the song gets more body. The beautiful, deep bass part is excellent. The dreamy quality of Champion slowly but surely grips me. The vocals are great. I love the way the guitars come in with loads of delay on them. As close as a guitar can come to a keyboard as possible. The keyboards themselves are like a thick, room wide carpet, to sink into without a chance of drowning. And hear them drums. They are played so rock solid. Warpaint is back in the middle of my attention alright.
People better versed in gothic metal may have heard of Sardinia born Mariangela Demurtas. I haven't and musically meet with her for the first time when listening to her solo debut EP, Dark Ability. The EP's opening song 'City' is an enormous song. Enormous in the sense of full of atmosphere and suspense. Recorded as if in a giant bathroom, reverb and echo envelope the whole sound of 'City'. The slow ballad is huge in the way it is recorded and mixed. The music and especially Mariangela Demurtas' voice is so enormously in my face that her presence in my room is inescapable. Starting with a solo grand piano, drenched in reverb, guitars and a heavily played drums join in, creating this huge atmosphere around the singer. Impressive 'City' is indeed and a promise for what more is to come.
There is far out and there's faaaar ououout. The opening seconds of Psychedelic Porn Crumpets' latest song, released to announce it upcoming fifth album, is almost disturbing. As disturbing as the video is. Recorded as if the radio station is just off, is that still possible in these digital days?, making the reception warped, mono and distorted. Fully tuned-in, the band releases its true power and a powerful psychedelic rocker is unleashed into the world. Distorted guitars play a role alright but expect to hear an acoustic guitar as well. The Perth based band tosses Bubblegum Infinity as it were up and down and through all the corners of the room. It results in the song having several different moments, colours and highlights. All this in a little over three minutes. It all ends with a carnival whirligig sound as if in a fast spinning something with the music warping once again. Waiting for a new album may be very much worth our while.
Of the four Wet Leg singles released to date, this is the strangest one. Listening to the intro and first verse, I nearly stopped listening. This is too simplistic, with too weird nonsensical lyrics. What I would have missed out on, is the giant surge of energy Wet Leg unleashes on an unsuspecting world. If the duo manages to draw in enough people to a gig, it's going to be dangerous to be close to the stage. There's no stopping the pogo here. The music is erratic, as restless as the smart phones of youths, up to thirty something, who cannot miss anything, are. Wet Leg captures the endless activity on a smartphone in music. Musically it bounces as hard as De Staat is able to do. Only the keyboard is missing. The bounce in the music is all there alright. What power, what energy. It took me about 30 seconds but I'm there alright, right inside Oh No.
Wout de Natris
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