Mega Dodo 2015
Summer Green
And Autumn Brown
Arcadian adventures from Swedish duo finally revealing the whole of their pastoral panorama.
Up until now it was short yarns that singer Britt Rönnholm and multi-instrumentalist Anders Håkanson wove in the shape of EPs, but this release find them exploring the bloom and the fading of foliage on a large scale. The colors of the group’s first full album aren’t bright, the pair operating in pastel hues, yet vivid, although it takes the journey deep inside the record – and, possibly, one’s psyche – to embrace the intent hidden in “Me And My Mission” as the stately strum of “A New Beginning” doesn’t hold a lot of movement.
There’s no need for a drift, anyway, and “State Of Mind” is entrancing enough in its extremely slow motion, which can’t be said about “We Are Sacred” whose hymnal drone bares cosmic layers of synthesizer magic under the half-whispered vocals, unfolding understated polyphony in what, on the surface of it, is a simple folk flow. It’s observations that are the focus of these songs which turn to intimacy in “Another View Of Us” with its ever-growing dynamics and take on prog-rock splendor in “Here Again” when harpsichord and organ fill the space. That’s why “From The Inside, Looking Out” lasts for 10 strings-drenched minutes: a hypnotic epic with a lysergic edge, it’s a delicate, otherworldly plea for spiritual freedom.
The wish is granted – and satisfaction’s guaranteed in the end. On to winter and spring now?
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