Swedish band SPAGYRIKERNA can trace their history back to 2009, when they started out as The Spagyrics. 2012 saw them altering their band name to their current one and releasing their first single “Sekel”, and on February 12th 2013 their self-titles debut album was released by fledgling Swedish label WHITE LINE RECORDINGS.
This 30 minutes long production is an interesting one. In style they reside somewhere between indie rock and art pop, sporting fairly straight forward compositional structures but with occasional quirky details and developments, while the arrangements caters for the majority of the art pop associations that comes to my mind.
The majority of the tracks have a tight drum and bass foundation at the core of the proceedings. The most intriguing ones to my mind opening effort Den förste kärleken, sporting a massive, loud and fairly intricate drum pattern in tight interaction with a circulating bass motif. An energetic foundation for the emotional lead vocals to play upon, supplemented by circulating electronic sounds and nifty, effectively utilized guitar details. Slowing down ever so slightly and adding a subtly lighter tone for the chorus. A brilliant piece of sophisticated, energetic pop/rock. Just as intriguing but rather different is final piece Rensa ut allt, on this occasion with a steady, dampened drum pattern and a fairly sophisticated bass motif as the foundation, sporting a light toned, recurring guitar motif, layered keyboards for the chorus and an intense, majestic instrumental final passage that ends this album on a high note.
The rest of this album generally holds a high quality too. The gently hammering rhythms and somewhat more simplistic piece Bakhåll and the slower paced, melancholic In med mörkret the least convincing to my ears. Both of them more pop-oriented affairs with a presumably wider overall appeal. Otherwise drums and bass are used to good effect to establish a driving foundation for the lead vocals, which are the central element in all songs, to play upon, and well thought out contributions by guitars and keyboards supplement the core elements quite nicely. Keyboards and guitars contrast each other quite nicely, at least in the instances when both aren’t utilized as counterpoints for a more dominating bass guitar, and the moods and atmospheres created and explored are well made and appealing overall.
If you’re in the mood for pop/rock somewhat more sophisticated in nature than what you usually encounter on FM radio, Spagyrikerna’s debut merits an inspection. Especially if you have a particular fascination for compositions revolving around dominating bass and drum motifs.
My rating: 80/100
