If you’re wondering why Swedish electro music is so good, then look no further than the latest release from iamamiwhoami, the musical brainchild of Jonna Lee.
Few albums are as evocative as
this. Waves of icy synths shatter
against crystalline melodies and glacial beats.
Lee’s vocal shivers above it all, ghostly and sensual. These sounds could only come from Scandinavia:
expansive and polished like a frosty snowscape, the production flutters like a
snowflake amongst deep-seated melancholic darkness.
This may seem exaggerated, but
opening track Fountain is immediately
immersive as its arpeggios ripple and crash like waves over your ears. Hunting
for Pearls is glorious, its almost sinister verses building to a widescreen
chorus of sparkling melodies. Much of
the album gleams with a glossy sheen (the catchy electro-pop of Vista and the soaring Chasing Kites especially), but there are
moments of pleasing roughness. Tap Your Glass, for instance, features a
buoyant, almost tribal, beat; Thin shatters
like abstract glass; Ripple has a
carnal, rave-like texture; and closer Shadowshow
is imbued with mystery and sinuous melodies. As a whole, ‘Blue’ delivers a consistent tone
and mood across its ten tracks that haunts as much as it dazzles.
Lee’s voice is perhaps a little contentious. This is no criticism of her accent (I can just
about count to ten in Swedish), but much of the lyrical content is somewhat
unintelligible. This may act as a
barrier to the music’s emotion, leaving some cold, but if anything it only
highlights the ethereal nature of Lee’s style.
The music alone is enough to stir an emotional response.
It comes as no surprise, then,
that (just as with her previous two releases), ‘Blue’ is a complete audiovisual
project with accompanying videos. There’s
no denying these are beautifully and artfully shot, brimming with the icy,
Scandinavian imagery that’s so intrinsic to the music. Yet it’s arguable whether they really add
value or depth to the whole experience.
For the most part, these videos simply visualise the abstract nature of sound
alone, undermining its evocative power.
It’s unnecessary: the music more than speaks for itself.
4/5
Gizzle’s Choice:
* Hunting for Pearls
* Tap Your Glass
* Chasing Kites
Listen: ‘Blue’ is available now.
