This is all rather marvelous. If you’ve been missing Fever Ray and always wondered what they’d sound like if Basic Channel took on production duties, then look no further. Whilst that may be a touch tenuous, as these things always are, it’s not far off the mark. Samaris have the same electronic dislocation as Karin Dreijer Andersson’s project but with a dubby warmth. Indeed ‘T4ngled’ even drops “silent shout” into the lyrics in a hopefully knowing nod to The Knife, Ms Andersson’s other, much missed but now defunct band. These are married to clanking echo-chamber sounds so beloved of Moritz Von Oswald on top of the sometimes lonely Nordic warbles. Warbles that, cliched observation though it may be, do bear some resemblance to fellow countryperson, Bjork. With the unmistakable rolling of an ‘r’ placing this squarely in a north European landscape, it is perhaps no surprise the five-year-old band have landed on One Little Indian.
None of which should suggest this excellent album is pastiche. It may have a sense of place and be within touching distance of an illustrious lineage but the complex, twisted, pitter-patter percussion along with the ethereal singing of Jófríður Ákadóttir has pedigree enough of its own. Muted and introverted synths drift about but it’s not in the slightest wishy washy. Indeed, tracks like Black Lights are even quietly ecstatic. Folky, in a sense, but entirely 21st century. One could almost hear it soundtracking a tundra-set, Icelandic animation that makes perfect sense to a young and open mind. The yearning and sense of loss is certainly contemplative, that’s for sure: “Please be like you were back then, ’cause I don’t know this one”. A universal refrain right there.
Black Lights is no misery-fest, however. Tunes like ‘R4vin’ are actually quite breezy. Plinks, plonks, plucks and chimes hop along over a pretty swinging groove. Perhaps half the album was recorded whilst Reykjavik was plunged into winter-long darkness, the other in the land of the midnight sun? It’s a nice mix of light and shade. Rather expertly and seamlessly mixed together, it must be said.
Supremely accomplished rather than revolutionary it may be but, what an accomplishment. One of the albums of the year so far.