Erik Levander - Kondens
[Rumraket]

Much like Rumraket’s last outing, Canon Blue’s brilliant “Colonies” (review link), the making of Erik Levander’s second full-length was wrought with strife and upheaval. Suffering a catastrophic hard-drive crash halfway through the recording process, Levander lost the majority of his work. Only kind donations from eager fans and friends and the retention of early studio-mixdowns enabled the Swede to continue.

While the press shots that accompany this album portray Levander like a member of a Misfits tribute act, his music, thankfully, ambiguously floats somewhere between the electronic and shoegaze worlds. It is apparent throughout, that Levander has been a keen student of the two styles as he incorporates the dynamics of both into a suite of songs that are indubitably his.

It is his knack of degenerating his music into barely audible pulses and glitchy, whispered beats before enveloping them in vacuums of chaotic distortion that is most appealing on “Kondens”. It’s a cool trick used on the likes of “Tölvupop”, “Oskärpa” and the fractured “Hitta Hem”. These pieces progress in a manner that makes them almost unrecognisible from their origins until, on cue, Levander shrouds them in a sonic triptych of contorted sound, as he alters guitar, synth and even his voice into clouds of haze. The latter, in particular, seems like it is on the verge of collapse, as if the static and hiss is trying to attack the original melody. Perhaps implode is a better term, given the ferocity of sound that Levander generates.

These tracks, though, are offset by the fragile beauty of “Tribut” and the skillfully assembled “Vid Fönstret”. The former is a somewhat poignant classical piano piece that deflects the direction of the album momentarily, much like the way Vangelis quite brilliantly used “One More Kiss, Dear” on the Bladerunner OST. “Vid Fönstret”, meanwhile, points to an adept musician, as well as producer, (he is classically trained in clarinet) as a variety of instruments mingle with a dusty synth progression, background television chatter and an impenetrable layer of Levander’s patented fog.

Perhaps more focus on vocals would benefit the overall appeal of “Kondens”. “Kvad”, for example, is an absolute show-stopper with its deformed computer glitch synth sound and Levander’s stunning sub-Gregorian chanting. It is the sort of sound many of us have been waiting for Patrick Wolf to produce for sometime. Tobias Lilja used his haunting, echoed baritone to near devastating effect of last year’s “Time Is on My Side” and given the fact that “Kvad” is the strongest track featured here, this is an avenue I’d certainly like to see this young Swede explore in greater detail on future efforts.

All told though, “Kondens” features all the hallmarks we’ve come to expect from the label that has brought us Efterklang, Canon Blue and Grizzly Bear. Fresh, distinctive and thoroughly engaging music. This record will undoubtedly leave an indelible mark on fans of the likes of My Bloody Valentine, Tobias Lilja and even Fennesz.

Kondens Track Listing:

1. Sekund
2. Oskarpa
3. Manen Viskar
4. Tolvupop
5. Vid Fonstret
6. Kvad
7. Hitta Hem
8. Tribut
9. Somnbrusten