whatido_formeforyou

sleep party people - a dark god heart

i suppose that at this point, two or three years into this blog, my enthusiasm for scandinavian music is pretty well documented. my fascination with their chord progressions, malleable song structures, and various subtleties and eccentricities transcends genre and leaves me wondering what cultural sensibilities might be primary factors. i haven’t reached a conclusion yet; compositionally, it could relate to their rich classical music heritage, or possibly their fascination with jazz (having embraced the globally-minded jazz exports of mid-20th century america in particular). alternatively, maybe it’s not even just musical characteristics; it could be the cold weather, the often epic landscapes, the high quality of life, the lack of mainstream radio ubiquity, or the successful public school system, which could serve to provide a correlation between eduction levels and higher standards for ‘pop music.’ either way, there’s something about that regional sound that leaves it saturated with intrigue, a distinct kind of harmonic freshness. 

this track in particular is a post-rock lullaby, with extensively ranging depths and peaks, where delicate sensations of stillness accumulate inertia and transform into towering walls of sound. the high points conjure up memories of being moved by mew’s ‘arena-shoegaze’ anthems, which themselves often grew steadily into mysteriously immersive melodic behemoths, intimidatingly vast and powerful regardless of the slow tempos, indecipherable falsetto vocals, and patient chord changes. comparably to their fellow danish countrymen’s tune ‘hawaii,’ you’ll hear the luxurious tone of orchestral strings set along with electric keyboards, both catapulted into massive proportions by the tumultuous drums that accompany them. the tracks would be entirely more dreamy if not for the unrestrained percussion that vigorously shakes them awake when the time calls for it. 

sleep party people, essentially the project of principal songwriter brian batz, but typically taking the stage with at least five members, are a danish act who are regularly photographed with rabbit masks on. the video is both creepy and poignant. if you can’t appreciate the thematic abstractions, or the gradually rewarding music, well, there’s a few choice shots of nipples throughout the video, so it’s safe to say that there’s something for almost everyone here. personally, i was sold as soon as soon as i heard about the whole undiscovered northern european band + creative music combo.