Tripla. Miki Berenyi Trio

Not too long ago, I passed by the opportunity to write on one of the singles being released before Tripla was. I vaguely remember that the track did not stand out in any way for me to find an angle to write on fast. The way I tend to listen to the dozens and dozens of singles that reach me to select ten each week I write on.

The same goes for the number of albums that come by each week. Tripla was released about a month ago already but always remained an option and after giving it a few repeated listenings, here it is.

Miki Berenyi played in the band Lush from the mid 1980s to mid 90s. I remember the name, but that is about it. For certain, I do not own a copy of its three albums, released between 1992 and 1996. The band was part of the shoegaze niche of rock music, far from my favourite kind of music back in the day.

I do not discard the option that Miki Berenyi on stage still gazes at the point of her shoes, musically I'd say that she left this form of music behind her. Not that Tripla holds poppy music. It is a dreamy, 1960s and 1980s, psychedelic kind of pop music that Tripla contains. The music has a sprightly step and is danceable for sure. The way Berenyi sings is dreamy and fairly soft. The band as a whole gives the song a kick up the you know where, preventing the music from sliding into dreampop territory.

The trio's other members are  KJ ‘Moose’ McKillop en Oliver Cherer. With the former, also her husband, she has made two records under the name Piroshka. The three create a lush sound on Tripla, with swaths of synths and slightly funky guitar parts that chop through the sound. Expect some fine percussion along the route Tripla lays out for the listener as well.

The best description I can give you is that the songs have this dream element, while the real world is already imposing itself on the listener. That lucid state between dream and being awake. You want to dream on but the world is preventing you to do so. Does something like dreaming-awake pop exist? If not, the Miki Berenyi Trio has introduced the world to it.

Tripla surprised me in a very pleasant way. This is an album to return to, to let it carry me away, but above all enjoy it in a lucid way.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can listen to and order Tripla here:

https://mikiberenyitrio.bandcamp.com/album/tripla