Reykjavík Grapevine - 19.06.2015, Síða 29

Album
Reviews
Quickly following the late
March release of an EP called
‘Acid Eclipse’, electronic musi-
cian Daveeth has released his
first full-length album, ‘Mono Lisa’. Dav-
eeth, Akureyri native Davíð Hólm Júlíus-
son, has released several EPs since 2004.
The new album is a genre-defyingly eclec-
tic collection of sounds and sequences,
reflecting the five years and vastly differ-
ent places throughout Iceland and China
in which it was recorded.
As each song races in and out from
frenetic, snare-heavy thumping to 16-bit
silliness, much of it is not dance-friendly—
with a few notable exceptions. This rapid
pace gives it a kind of narrative that is bet-
ter simply sat and listened to, almost like
a soundtrack. It is at points both sophis-
ticated in its instrumental complexity and
endearing in its more amateurish drum
machines. It sounds like a soundtrack to a
video game I want to play.
Opening the album with a slow, eerie,
organ-like synth, “Sveiflugjafi” acceler-
ates to digital cacophony that sets the
tone for the whole record. That frenzy hits
peaks of classic 90s-style tekkno mad-
ness in “Tóndæmi,” “HuiGuoRou,”and the
title track “Mono Lisa.” Let’s call these the
button-mashing, sweat-inducing boss
battles.
The smoothest track of them all, and
the most danceable, is actually the one-
minute bridge between two songs. Called
“Hás,” it features a slower, funkier beat
with understated percussion that would
definitely make it the theme to a jungle
level in the game. “This Particular Sin” and
“Go Figure” are possibly its most melodic
and accessible pop jams, with deep but
catchy synths and head-bobbing beats.
Good music for dungeons.
Overall ‘Mono Lisa’ is an appropriately
vibrant and quirky debut LP coming from
a musician who “likes to use electronic
devices to make toast but also music.” If
nothing else, it will certainly keep you play-
ing it. Whether you’ve ever wondered what
a symphony of tiny robots would sound
like or you need a new record to put on
when rescuing princesses, this is worth at
least three listens. (It grew on me.) What-
ever it lacks in cohesiveness, it pays back
with a digital sword—and interest.
- GRAYSON DEL FARO
While Anton Kaldal Ágústs-
son has released quite a bit of
music as Tonik over the years,
‘Snapshots’ is his debute ven-
ture as Tonik Ensemble. The album is
centred on the concept of synaesthesia,
a condition wherein sounds involuntarily
evoke an experience of colour. This is not
a novel theme for composers—the idea of
capturing the relationship between colour,
sound and atmosphere through music by
using orchestration, harmony and texture
as a colour palette, can be traced back to
the works of Debussy and Ravel, and more
recently through the experimental elec-
tronic works of Susumu Yokota.
‘Snapshots’ provides a modern and
genre-pushing take on this idea, blending
house, classical and jazz motifs together in
an album that creates a delicate balance of
chilled beats, tension and melancholy. An-
ton has compared his method of writing
to painting a canvas or to cooking, slowly
adding layers to produce an interesting,
balanced mix, and this can certainly be
heard throughout the album.
Opening track “Prelude” draws the lis-
tener in with a crisp twigs-burning-in-fire
crackle, which is underscored by deep,
primal bass and topped with a delicate,
dreamy vocal call. A melancholy string
interlude then builds to introduce beats
before a blurring of tracks settles into the
low and almost seductive minimalist beat
and vocal combination of “Synaesthesia.”
The album then takes a slight com-
mercial and more conventional turn with
the next two tracks, “Landscape” and “The
Further I Go,” which delve into more stan-
dard chill-out/house territory and would
not be out of place in the background at a
sunny bar while beautiful people sip cock-
tails, or on a Ministry of Sound Chillout
compilation.
“Powers of Ten” steers the album back
onto its introverted tangent and provides
what I think is the standout vocal melody
of the album. It’s not hard to get lost in its
soaring but well-controlled beauty teamed
with sparse and gentle beats. It's the kind
of track that makes you stop what you are
doing and just lose yourself in it.
“Imprints” snaps you out of the trance
with the sound of bubbling water and
raises the energy levels with a tense dark
driving beat. Teamed with the lyrics—
“Environmental noises/Sound from the
waves/Of ever-growing current/Erasing
my trail”—provides a gripping portrayal of
the fear, adrenalin and beauty of Iceland’s
landscapes.
“Nangilima”—presumably a reference
to Astrid Lindgren’s beloved 1973 novel
‘The Brothers Lionheart’—is the land of
light, where eternal happiness reigns, that
is entered at death. In Astrid’s book, Nan-
gilima is reached when two brothers jump
off a cliff together in order to never be
separated again. Upon reaching the bot-
tom of the gorge, they are cut off and one
brother yells to the other “I see the light!”
Musically, what starts as a growly, sparse
and tense track eventually scales down to
a devastating cinematic string lament with
the lyric “You’re fading away” repeated
between the mournful swirling strings and
now-returned driving beats. The result is a
remarkable and emotional experience.
If “Nangilima” is indeed a reference to
the brothers’ death in the book, the final
track of the album, “Until We Meet Again,”
is an incredibly appropriate ending. The
track is soothing and filled with light—an
optimistic and childlike simple ending to
what is otherwise an intricate and beauti-
ful album.
Well worth a listen.
- ALEX SINCLAIR
Daveeth
Tonik Ensemble
Mono Lisa
daveeth.bandcamp.com
A soundtrack to the video
game you wish existed
‘Snapshots’
www.tonik.is
An intricate and rewarding
debut album
E L E G A N T P R E M I S E S I N
T H E H E A R T O F R E Y K J A V I K
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Open 11:30-22:00
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101 Reykjavík Tel. 553 1500 seabaron8@gmail.com
An absolute
must-try!
Saegreifinn restaurant (Sea Baron) is like none other
in Iceland; a world famous lobster soup and a diverse
fish selection.
MUSIC29The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 8 — 2015