Bergen, Norvegia. Due ragazzi. La casa di legno dipinto di bianco dei genitori di Erlend. Una grande finestra che dà sull'acqua incredibilmente ferma del fiordo. Se c'è il sole l'acqua è blu: se è nuvoloso, cosa molto più probabile, è nera, bellissima. I due siedono alla finestra, sorseggiano tè, suonano le chitarre (corde metalliche per Erlend, nylon per Eirik), cantano di amori difficili e di esistenza.
Il "New Acoustic", tanto per usare l'etichetta del NME, eccolo qui. "Quiet Is The New Loud" è un disco molto bello, molto "quiet", molto ispirato, anche.
Chitarra e voce. Rare apparizioni di violoncello, tromba, percussioni e piano, qua e là. Cercarne i riferimenti storici è sin troppo facile, anche perché non fanno certo nulla di nuovo, né ci provano: Simon & Garfunkel e Nick Drake, lo scrivono tutti, ed è assolutamente ovvio.
A trent'anni di distanza il loro sound è più pulito, i loro testi – belli – sono un po' meno dispera(n)ti, i loro fans non hanno più bisogno di scappare di casa per vederli dal vivo (e certo non ne tireranno su 500.000 al Central Park).
"Things seem so much better when / they're not a part of your close surroundings. / Like words in a letter sent, / amplified by the distance."
[NdR: Erlend Øye è uscito con "Unrest"]
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
02 Toxic Girl (03:09)
In the sky the birds are pulling rain
In your life the curse has got a name
Makes you lie awake all through the night
That's why
She's intoxicated by herself
Everyday she's seen with someone else
And every night she kisses someone new
Never you
You're waiting in the shadows for a chance
Because you believe at heart that if you can
Show to her what love is all about
She'll change
She'll talk to you with no one else around
But only if you're able to entertain her
The moment conversation stops she's gone
Again
05 Failure (03:33)
Using the Guardian as a shield
To cover my thighs against the rain
I do not mind about my hair
Your jacket may be waterproof
But I know the moment you get home
You're gonna get your trousers changed
Failure is always the best way to learn
Retracing your steps until you know
Have no fear your wounds will heal
I wish I could travel overground
To where all you hear is water sounds
Lush as the wind upon a tree
I wish I could travel overground
To where all you hear is water sounds
To capture and keep inside of me
Failure is always the best way to learn
Retracing your steps until you know
Have no fear your wounds will heal
Failure is always the best way to learn
Retracing your steps until you know
Have no fear your wounds will heal
08 Leaning Against the Wall (03:18)
Your eyes are cold
I know you'll tell me all
Not to fall
I lean against the wall
I'm on the floor
Not listening anymore
I should have known
The things to which you're prone
(You cross your arms
And tell no lies
A thousand thoughts run
Through my mind
A thousand words that I don't need
I never thought you could do this)
I should have known
The things to which you're prone
(You cross your arms
And tell no lies
A thousand thoughts run
Through my mind
A thousand words that I don't need
I never thought you could do this)
Your eyes are cold
I know you'll tell me all
Not to fall
I lean against the wall
11 The Passenger (03:13)
I didn't know you were there
until you said "hello."
You had been watching me
for I don't know how long.
I hit my head against the lamp,
as by surprise I stood up.
"Don't be afraid," you said,
"it's only me- The door wasn't locked."
The voice I'd heard in the hall
was hard to recognise.
But now we know he's onboard,
wearing our disguise.
If only you and I could trust
each other through this,
then together we could
work out who
the enemy is.
12 Parallel Lines (05:11)
What's the immaterial substance
That envelopes two
That one perceives as hunger
And the other as food
I awake in tangled covers
To a sash of snow
You dream in a cartoon garden
I could never know
Innocent imitation of how it would be
If one the music entered, you did not retreat
In my imagination, you are cast in gold
Your image a compensation for me to hold
Parallel lines, move so fast
Toward the same point
Infinity is as near as it is far
Parallel lines, move so fast
Toward the same point
Infinity is as near as it is far
Carico i commenti... con calma
Altre recensioni
Di fosca
Se vorrete spendere 50 minuti del vostro tempo nell’ascolto di melodie senza tempo e che rimettono in pace col mondo, beh, questo è il cd che fa per voi.
Il loro lavoro è raffinato, di alto livello e non privo di quella sorta di autoironia che distingue, a volte, gli originali ed intelligenti compositori da quelli mediocri e ripetitivi.
