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Isolation Years | Inland Traveller

Big potential from the north of Sweden.
CD, Stickman/Sonic Rendezvous

Tekst: Bas Ickenroth

Publicatiedatum: 20 september 2001

From the very north of Sweden, a small village called Sävar, come Isolation Years, the newest signing by Stickman Records. I don't know if that northern part of Sweden is a desolate area, but I suspect it is because of the chosen band name (which is taken from a line from one of their songs not present on this album). Strangely enough, the music doesn't sound cold at all. This young band - they emerged from the cold Swedish grounds in 1999 - write songs with a definite Americana feel, giving the music a warm melancholic touch. Some references are Nick Cave, 16 Horsepower, and Madrugada, but without the pathos and with a distinct psychedelic retropop feel. The members originally wrote some songs apart from each other and tried to fulfill every potential of each song, no matter if those songs would fit together or not. For such an approach the cohesion is remarkable. Intentional or not, this is a real album, not some songs that were randomly put together. Another strong point is the natural sounding production, which is really exceptional, especially considering they recorded the whole thing on their own in their own studio in the red house shown on the front cover. Then the songs. Not that all songs are equally good ('Goblins and Pines' and 'New Start' don't live up to their self-created high standard.), but overall they show great compository skills. Take a song like 'Hemisphere': Instrumentation, lyrics, and voice compliment the melody greatly, and when the beautiful chorus kicks in, you just know it's right. Or the instant classic 'Talkin' Backward Masking Blues', with its great dubbed vocals and undercooled melody. And all of the songs are accompanied by a reverb-drenched guitar sound, great accordion, or brass arrangements and the melancholic Jim Morrison/Bono vocals by Jakob Nyström. Isolation Years are a very pleasant surprise and have big potential to come far, both artistically and commercially.

http://www.kindamuzik.net/recensie/isolation-years/inland-traveller/969/
Meer Isolation Years op KindaMuzik: http://www.kindamuzik.net/artiest/isolation-years