Currents

 

Sweden – the land of Ericsson, Absolut, Volvo, and flat-pack furniture that comes with indecipherable instructions and some sort of screwing in tool that defies logic. Dig a little deeper into the country’s heritage and you find a population with a penchant for eating picked fish, and rather more appetisingly, a deep vein of musical talent. Of course there was the Abba phenomenon 30 years ago, but more recently, some of the most interesting and creative bands have hailed from a pool of 9 million people where 53% of the land is covered in forest.

 

Think of The Cardigans, Soundtrack Of Our Lives, The Hives, or other less well known but equally worthy contenders like Eskobar, Kent, Prime STH, and The Concretes. Despite his name, Jose Gonzales is proudly Swedish, and had one of the most surprising success stories of 2005. Now it’s time to add another name to the list of deserved successes. Currents. Who are worthy of extra bonus points by deftly omitting a currently trendy “the†prefix from their name.

 

They are a 4 piece band from the Stockholm area, comprising of a biologist, music teacher, computer-whiz, and linguistics freak (who is also the drummer by the way). By their own admission, they are trying to push the basic two guitars, drums and bass rock formula into as many different directions as possible. And it works. If the swirling moodiness of Radiohead is your river of dreams, then Currents will flow right there. But they trade in shoe-gazing for their own twist on melodic interpretation with a rockier edge.

 

The easy complexity of the first track hooks your attention, and gives notice that the rest of the album won’t disappoint. Familiar enough to keep you tuned in, yet with enough new personality to wonder what’s around the next chord. The slightly rasping, raw, impassioned vocals of Christian Sommer weave in and out of the music, forming part of the canvas, and not the only part you hear. Rightly so, as the twiddly guitar breaks like the one on “Cloud†are just as noteworthy.

 

Quite happy to break out from the guitars / bass / drums formula, the sampled science intro to “The Sun and Time and Burning†adds a nice touch to a harder track that has the energy of US rock, but the brighter chords of Brit-pop. Yet it still remains individual. Plastic pop might not be their bag, but there is enough immediacy to tap your head and nod your foot to – or something. The guitar riffs on “Charge Down the Hill†remain lodged in your brain after reaching the bottom of the slope, and “Crashing Jets†has the expansive quality that Sigur Ros do so well. That tune also has one of the biggest guitar hooks on the album.

 

The final couple of tracks are the most progressive, adventurous, spiralling, and lengthy – but without ever dragging. Lyrically, themes like everyday ruminations on life, love and nature are touched upon through the album, often governed by whim. Most even make sense, though lyrics are included with the CD if you want to mull further on the wordplay. But it’s an album of integrated sounds, not one where you debate if the words are better than the music.

 

It’s wrong to weigh up a new band against what has gone before, but as you’re unlikely to hear these guys on the radio mainstream quite yet, some comparisons are needed to add sonic points of reference. They have the audible curiosity of the Beta Band, guitar interplay of Mansun, wispy dreamscapes of Doves, and underrated musicianship of Elbow. A fresh new hope from Sweden that deserves a global audience. And yes, they do like pickled fish.

 

Neil Chase

Music Editor cd-wow

 

Nope...but Sweden seems to be where its at right now for some reason.