Slaraffenland
(Home Tapes)
Slaraffenland, the Danish post-rock multi-instrumented quintet, continues its move away from the freeform experimentation of its 2004 Private Cinema towards a more vocally driven, melodic pop sound. The instrumentation in We're On Your Side -- reed instruments, flutes, brass and alternate percussion - gives their tunes an aura of particularly upbeat jazz. Yet the jangle of guitar and banjo, the slow lift of vocals in unison, ground this album firmly in a very tonal, very accessible aesthetic. Where Private Cinema tested song structure and, as a result, sometimes found itself spinning in side eddies and afterthoughts, We're on Your Side moves relentlessly forward. There is a sublime incipience, a sense that something wonderful is coming, in the way these tunes drive and strive and push to their conclusion.
Consider, for instance, "Meet and Greet," the album's first single. A straightforward four-based rhythm drives the cut, sticks landing solidly on the beats until measure's end when there's a hitch and a rush to catch up, a little gallop mixed into the trot. To this taut foundation, the band adds a steady pulse of guitar notes, off the beats, another staccato element to propel the song forward. There are handclaps and abrupt mutters of bass, all driving ahead. But over it, the vocals are lush and sustained, the brass and winds cleanly melodic. A sense of urgency blends with a surge of optimism. It's the first morning of a long vacation, the first chapter of a long-awaited book, you can't wait to get on with things because they're so damned promising.
That promise pays off in the album's excellent mid-section, in the late classical brass and woodwind counterpoint of "Stars and Smiles," in the fuzzy, Fennesz-like atmospherics of "Falling Out," in the detuned drums and flittery flutes of "Postcard." The jazz band instruments enhance these tracks, but the emphasis is clearly on the tunes, sometimes sung in communal unison, sometimes split into strong two-and-three part harmonies and always pushed well forward in the mix. "Open Your Eyes," a late album highlight, may emerge out of a fog of saxophone tones and discord, may move forward on rickety kitchen sink percussion, but its drama comes from the singing. The singers urge a performer onward from the wings, in a rising, blossoming modal melody, against syncopated drums and occasional bursts of woodwinds. "Open your eyes, open your eyes," the song ends, distilling clarity, simplicity and excitement into its closing lines.
In retrospect, it seems that Slaraffenland's 2008 EP Sunshine was a turning point for the band, their two pop covers (Radiohead's "Paranoid Android", A-Ha's "Take on Me") helping them shape a more tuneful, vocally centered approach, without giving up the complexity and freshness of their instrumental palette. We're On Your Side builds on what they began in the EP, and subtly raises the stakes.
Standout Tracks: "Meet and Greet", "Open Your Eyes" JENNIFER KELLY
