Omhet & Skilsmassa (2021, Discreet Music)

 

Enhet För Fri Musik

Discreet Music – 03

Just about had time to shake the dust off after those two Förlag För Fri Musik stun grenades dropped what like 2 weeks ago from Astrid Øster Mortensen and Hugo Randulv, now Gothenburg’s flagship unit Enhet För Fri Musik returns on Discreet’s own eponymous label. Ömhet & Skilsmässa in their own words is ’a concept album on relationships, family values and broken promises’, the group explores this in their typically collaged, loose and undefined form, drifting between moments of longing and loneliness to warmer, fuzzier feelings of tenderness and togetherness with sharp turns in phase. But there’s a deeper level of intimacy throughout that has been less pronounced in their previous outings - Sofie Herner’s close, whisper-in-ear vocals instantly teleport us into the communal environment from where this music originates, channelling a properly zonk’d Spaceman 3 (An Evening Of Contemporary Sitar Music) vibe on ‘Född Med Tänder’ but reduced right down to barebones and topped with Blod’s charismatic recorder notes, whilst elsewhere it triggers warmer feelings of nostalgia or trouble down the road. Even now, I’m still struggling to pinpoint what makes this music so captivating, maybe it’s the freeform openness to it all, or the way memories suddenly emerge out of murky / abrasive passages, sharp cuts from harsh to beautiful in the blink of an eye or the impulsive, unpretentiousness of it all. Undisputed highlight of the year - keep ‘em coming!