Slowblow are an Icelandic duo with links to Múm
whose singer, Kristin Anna
Valtysdottir, guests on four tracks on this, their
third album in ten years. If you’re not a fan
of low-fi, acoustic song form then read no further...
Very Slow Bossanova begins with an endearing
note of humour: a dead slow drum machine is joined after
a few bars by reluctant piano chords before reverting
to another cursory drum tattoo. The piano returns accompanied
this time by vocals rendered in something between a
whisper and a hushed conversation. Oh and there’s
also a chirrup like a clockwork cicada in there. The
whole ramshackle thing succeeds because of its melody
that will have you humming in no time.
I Know You Can Smile introduces a duet between
Múm’s Valtysdottir
and Slowblow:
'I know you can smile, I know you’ve got teeth
I know there’s a bad taste in your mouth
Is it the one, is the hate boy?
Is it because there’s no tomorrow?
I have lost my ways in this dark, dark light
The road is endless in the middle of the night'
Another delightful tinpot drum machine rhythm starts
up. There’s strummed nylon string guitar and gentle
flourishes of electric guitar that carry just the hint
of country. Tuneful, catchy and just a little spooky.
The vocals on Happiness In Your Face funnily
enough sound like Tenpole Tudor singing Who Killed
Bambi?
Popular music is littered with personal takes on tried
and tested genres by artists who stand outside of that
genre’s tradition – perhaps the most obvious
case being The Beatles’ pop take on black American
R’n’B. Slowblow deliver a very particular
interpretation of American hillbilly, other folk forms
and rock’n’roll for the new millennium.
The best examples create significantly new styles while
the worst are a magnet for kitsch derision; the middle
ground sometimes achieves a certain idiosyncratic status.
All in all this album is a low-key, homemade affair
weaving together a variety of different influences into
an engaging whole.
Colin Buttimer
3/5 |
