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(2019) Death and Vanilla - Are You a Dreamer?
Review:
Gimmicky triangular artwork aside, the latest from the Swedish trio follows on from several faux/imagined soundtracks recorded live in accompaniment to Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Vampyr (2013) and Roman Polanski’s The Tenant (2018). The cinematic vibe of those works permeates their fifth (and best) album, which continues to incorporate the floating melodies, shoegazy production, and ethereal vocals of Marleen Nilsson into a post-Twin Peaks, Badalamenti/Julee Cruise-inhabited dream world of danceable electronica, romantic library music, and lemon chiffon grooves. Woozy, warbly wah-wahs flicker around Nilsson’s soft vocals in ‘Let’s Never Leave Here’ and you’ll want to second that emotion. ‘Mercier’ sways to and fro, the better to mix that martini in your hand, while synths swirl around your head, creating increasing doses of giddy elation. ‘Eye Bath’ is (or should be) the lead single, capturing their earlier dance styles while continuing to pile on hallucinogenic beats reminiscent of Kraftwerk’s disco phase (e.g., ‘The Model’, ‘Showroom Dummies’), and ‘Nothing Is Real’ keeps the pleasant vibes cascading over your body like getting caught in a warm shower on a Summer day. It all slowly fades into hypnotic oblivion with the closing duo ‘Vespertine’ and ‘Wallpaper Pattern’, which admittedly sound like one long ten minute track segmented in half for ultimate enjoyment. Tracks flow seamlessly into each other in a slow-motion dream from which you’ll never want to awaken. Except to turn the record over and start again.
Tracklist:
01 - A Flaw in the Iris
02 - Let's Never Leave Here
03 - Mercier
04 - Eye Bath
05 - The Hum
06 - Nothing Is Real
07 - Vespertine
08 - Wallpaper Pattern
Summary:
Country: Sweden
Genre: dream-pop
Media Report:
Source : CD
Format : FLAC
Format/Info : Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : ~ 635-841 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits |
