Cleopatra 2024
Sing…
To scratch their seven-year itch, Copenhagen garage-rock non-couple cut into vein of classic covers.
Churning out ten songs which clock in in under half an hour isn’t supposed to sound inspiring as there might be a hint of too hectic, and too hurried, an approach to the task, and making the output feel not frantic at all seems nigh on impossible – but this duo performed such a feat with flying colors… Only colors hardly belong to Sharin Foo and Sune Rose Wagner’s nocturnally bleak delivery of their favorite perennials, the film-noir artwork of the pair’s ninth album suggesting as much, yet they apparently had quite a blast laying down mostly early-’60s hits. The two downscaled source material in terms of energy that, more often than not, resulted in a different, minimalistic and arresting, kind of ardor.
Perhaps, “Venus In Furs” deserved to be handled in this manner, although the Danes made it less morbid and more trippy and scintillating compared to the original version, but other numbers pack a surprising punch when given a skeletal, if groovy, treatment too. Thus, the duo’s reading of “Return Of The Grievous Angel” – at 4:14 the longest cut on offer – stands out of the bunch, and Buddy Holly’s “Wishing” – which also rides a countrified riff – lags not far behind. While the sinister “The Girl On Death Row” displays a filigreed undercurrent, “Shakin’ All Over” fleshes out its bone structure in a steady six-string rustle before “Leader Of The Pack” dissolves under the delectably grainy veneer. Yes, by strategically placing “I Love How You Love Me” at the album’s beginning, Sune and Sharin may lull the listener who’s bound to enjoy the gentle twang of their guitars, and “All I Have to Do Is Dream” will have a similar effect on their audience, yet the reduction of “Goo Goo Muck” to cosmic pulse and “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” to silvery chime over a barely-there motorik throb shines a fresh light on the evergreens.
Whether this platter is what the little ensemble’s fans have been waiting for the last seven years is a moot point; on its own, though, it’s a thoroughly entertaining opus.
****1/4
