Raging Lines (Sondre Thomassen Thorvik) must have had some fun researching his ancestry. His extended family has roots across Norway as well as in Braunschweig, Germany and – get this – Manchester. I might have bumped into one of them at some time or other.
The Raging Lines project encompasses post-punk and dark indie rock modes with influences from the likes of Joy Division, Depeche Mode, Massive Attack and Johnny Cash. Manchester to Memphis via Basildon and Bristol, and a huge variety of styles. That’s almost as ambitious as the ancestry.
Sondre is currently a master’s student at the University of Oslo, focusing on music production and composition and harbours a passion for creating his own distinctive tunes. Meanwhile he’s churning out songs like this one, ‘Let me have this moment’.
His father does the publicity for him and tells me he has a ‘dark voice’. What I wasn’t expecting was something to rival Brad Roberts of Crash Test Dummies. It’s very rare to hear a bass-baritone vocal in a contemporary music song. It’s a distinct advantage, at least until the novelty wears off.
It’s a very well put together creation in which you will definitely hear strong hints of Depeche Mode, but also, possibly, Iggy Pop.
It’s a ‘ships that pass in the night’, Brief Encounter sort of song, a desire to have a lingering moment with someone who can never be part of a permanent liaison. An alternative take on the sentiments in ‘Take on me’ possibly?
You can tell Sondre is highly trained in production. He has built into ‘Let me have this moment’ a consciousness pervading synthesised hook, a hypnotic vocal and he possesses the ability to raise and lower the mood through the volume, without changing the tempo, a rare skill.
I do believe we’ll be hearing much more of him.
Find him on:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raginglines/
