Nicolay Løvvold (Norway) – Strappado (single)
You can’t keep a good bloke down and Nicolay is just that, having written several great reviews for us recently.
He ain’t a bad musician either (!), with a penchant for a comic turn of phrase, and he always works his socks off to make his songs as interesting and meaningful as he can.
He anticipated my first reaction to his latest release, ‘Strappado’, by insisting that the song itself has nothing to do with historical torture devices. Thank God for that. The Internet Police are already watching me and I’m not paranoid, ha- ha.
The very word piqued his curiosity before he learned what it was – a metaphor meant to depict the physical and psychological restraints placed on soldiers, the loss of agency, the violence and trauma that accompany war, and the brutality of conflict and the inevitability of suffering.
He felt that the references would introduce a historical allusion to a torture device, further emphasising the cruelty of war and the dehumanisation of soldiers.
So, the song is meant to present a critical commentary on the socio-political dynamics of war, particularly the stark contrast between the wealthy elite who instigate conflicts and the impoverished individuals who bear the brunt of these decisions.
I’m going to send it to Vlad and Don but I’ll excuse Volod because he didn’t start it. Okay Don? J.D.?
He felt that taking inspiration from Iron Maiden would be a good fit, because they often touch upon similar topics in their lyrics and dug out an old Stratocaster and a “decent sounding” Marshall JCM 800 amp in order to tweak the most accurate tone possible.
For further authenticity he created an intricate riff that “hit its mark pretty well because it stays fairly firmly within something you’d might expect from the Maiden realm…”
He also used a pick on the bass. Judas! Haram! (You don’t often see those two words together, but that gave him the clunky sound he coveted).
Finally, he used the same technique for the drums as Toto did on ‘Africa’ to create a sense of relentlessness that blended with the repeating nature of loss and the toll that war has on the afflicted.
Vocally, well he simply tried to be Bruce Dickinson. You make your mind up.
So after all this analysis, which belongs in the realms of Match of the Day on Saturday night with Gary and Alan and the other pundits, what does the song actually sound like?
Well it’s grandiose, that’s for sure. And one of his longest, at five and a half minutes The intro could be the music to the end of ‘The Longest Day’ or ‘Zulu’ or ‘Sands of Iwo Jima’.
When it gets fully underway the riffs, the solo, the bridge, the melodies; all of them are spot on. It is hard to believe this is the work of one man.
I’d really like to hear it fully orchestrated; it deserves that degree of treatment. In fact my only unenthusiastic observation is that for all the instrumentation applied it sounds a tad thin, as if something is missing but that might disappear with further hearings.
On the other hand the guitar reverb on the final note must have drained the national electricity grid.
Lyrically, it reads like a Wilfred Owen poem from World War 1; right up there with ‘Dulce et decorum est [pro patria mori]’ and ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth.’ (Owen himself was cut down in France as the war was coming to an end, at just 25).
“The marching to the drums of war/Keep the beat going strong
More cemeteries for the brave/As we salute their final song”.
I could be picky about little things like the occasional mixing of tenses but I’m not going to be for that would be churlish.
The best complement I can pay, having heard five or six of Nicolay’s songs now, is that when Nightwish finally come out of their self-imposed semi-retirement and tour again he should be opening for them.
Find him on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nicolaylovvold
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicolaylovvold/
Kristofer Axén (Sweden) – The Maggot’s grin and Silent Lark (sample tracks from the album Sun Pie)
Standing in contrast to Nicolay’s approach is Kristofer Axén, who styles himself as a Swedish singer-songwriter of super melodic music, and Beatles-like melodies, with sour lyrics and unconventional song structures.
Since moving from his native small town of Mölnlycke (believe it or not the UK headquarters of a company with that name is in my town – small world!) near Gothenburg, Kristofer has been residing in Stockholm for the past 15 years.
His fourth album, entitled ‘Sun Pie’, and of 11 all-English language tracks, was released on April 11th.
He specialises in multi-layered lyrics and “in DIY fashion” Kristofer wrote, produced and played almost all the instruments on the album.
There were two singles off the album, ‘The Maggot’s grin’, and ‘Silent Lark’ and I opted to make one of them the sample track. Trouble is, I couldn’t decide which one.
Both of them have not only the musicality but the class of The Beatles stamped right through them and you don’t say that unless you are sure of yourself.
‘The Maggot’s grin’ could be ‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da’ and ‘Silent Lark’ might be ‘Eleanor Rigby’.
Both have that trademark Liverpool sound about them and delving into the lyrics I found them to be surprisingly deep without being in the least bit pretentious; not an easy balancing act.
For example (from ‘Silent Lark’) –
“I picture a marvellous tomb/some sanity in the room
But I have come to believe/all that I need is silence”
And (from ‘The Maggot’s grin’ –
“It’s probably so that I cannot show my soul, love/for all that’s new the presence of you seems quite enough
You stepped to my face and told me where you knew me from/I couldn’t see then the obsession to come”.
That is really good writing and allied to crisp instrumentation that even out-Beatles The Beatles.
There are no weak links here at all.
And for that reason you get, unusually, two sample tracks (lyrics provided to Spotify, click the little mic logo).
Find him on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kristoferaxenmusicandwords
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristofer_axen/
