Constellation
Erika Angell , Swedish composer / vocalist and member of Thus Owls, has finally chosen to release a solo vocal work.
Considering their current roster,
Constellation is the perfect fit for this series of tracks that explore the interaction between electronics and voice in a completely unhindered and boundaryless fashion. Having spent time in groups and working on the edges of experimentation, this album focuses primarily on what Erika can achieve and how far she can
push her voice within the song format.
The majority of the pieces concentrate on the vocal electronic interface and the simplicity and starkness are at times surprising but always effective. Opener “Dress Of Stillness” is all insidious minimalist repetition; reminiscent of some of
Osmo Lindeman‘s work, it is stark against the muffled, distorted voice while the appearance of
deep strings churning lends unexpected drama. There is a romantic, melancholic desolation which is in keeping with the overall aim of the album.
Feelings of unease merge with the sensations of the young Erika discovering her voice and what it can do when sent out into the world. The desire to cloak it in various effects feels as though it is being shielded from the difficulties the world has to offer. On the desolate, Martin Rev-like “German Singer”, as the voice starts to blur, the future arrives in a barely contained tension that finds the voice distended and atomised, and set down in an update of the central section of Suicide‘s”Frankie Teardrop”.
The different vocal personalities are impressive, each track imbued with diverse atmospheres, from the playful, slightly jazzy “Never Tried To Run” to the archaic sounding “Let Your Hair Down”, where the mellifluous vocal drifts between ancient and modern while sinuous percussion insinuates around it. The pieces often start so simply and a single gesture or sound will be enough to introduce further hints and ideas. They swell and build,
coalescing then dissipating, with the leering strings of ‘Never Tried To Run” or the avant-rock progression of “Up My Sleeve” always leading the listener willingly.
There are echoes of experimental vocalists who have come before, but there is always something in the application of the effects that set these pieces apart and into a
post-modern context, be it the parched desiccation of “Good And Bad” or the swollen disappointment of “One”, a brief warning attacked by a blistered percussive sunburst. It is not until the final track “Temple” do we hear the voice shorn of all artifice, injecting this calming lullaby with a warm vibrato indicating that, at the centre of all this subterfuge and distraction, lies a beating human heart.
-Mr Olivetti-
Erika Angell , Swedish composer / vocalist and member of Thus Owls, has finally chosen to release a solo vocal work.
