Darkness Falls
Alive In Us / WAS Distribution
Philip, and Ina Lindgreen - guitar and bass - already brought us their first stunning EP‚Darkness Falls’ released in March 2011.
Discovered by visionary producer Anders Trentemoller, Darkness Falls now announce their debut full length album - ‚Alive In Us‘ - which is also produced by Trentemoller. A perfect modern fusion of melancholic melodies, 60s guitar twangs, haunting atmospheres and spaced-out pop, the long player whisks us away to a not-so-distant land of bitter-sweet harmony and musical contemplation.
The reverb-drenched debut-EP ‚Darkness Falls‘ set the tone for the band‘s laid-back filmic qualities and exceptional song-writing. Thus the album continues, with rich guitar sounds, subdued percussion and lush harmonies.
‚100 Meter Mind Dash‘ eases us further into the calming drone-scape of their magical song world, while the mysterious sci-fi tones of ‚The Void‘ confirm that the album is unstoppably infectious. Ever-changing and developing, epic future-rock meets achingly majestic shoegaze in ‚Night Will Be Dawn‘. Josephine‘s powerful vocals climb a velvet-carpeted stairway into psychedelic explorations as this 6 minute triumph unravels.
In the slow-motion unwind of ‚Josephine‘ dark and filtered pianos chime through misty scandinavian coastlines before a transformation flips the song into a groovy bass-heavy neo-disco montage. This is one of the tracks where the project really shines through - not afraid to mix genres and themes in a diverse and bold new sound!
In wonderful contrast, title track ‚Alive In Us‘ beams out positive energy in a rousing round-up of the band‘s instrumental talents. Shining synths and yet more cavernous reverb hold this sweet number in the finest of lights. An ode to musical generations past, present and future.
A love of classic 60s guitar sounds can be found throughout, with all the twang and spring of those classic rock‘n‘roll days, yet tracks like ‚Paradise Trilogy II‘ transform the tone into a new instrument entirely, as it becomes fused with heavenly voices and dreamy washes of texture.
Once again contrasting, yet quickly fitting in as part of an expertly considered work, ‚Time Line‘ merges electronic elements and rougher edges with the darker corners of Darkness Falls. In the same zone, the stomping ‚Before The Light Takes Us‘ ups the urgency and brings a more raucous attitude to the album‘s often more gentle exterior. ‚Hey!‘ is also a lively affair, centered on a foreboding lyric caught up amongst a whirlwind of guitar and synths in a truly wonderful moment of modern song-writing.
And so as the album draws to a close the haunting ‚Paradise Trilogy III‘ lifts us away completely into the windy Danish landscape where the magic once began.