The Norwegian band 35 Tapes are already releasing their fourth album and like quite a lot of bands from Scandinavia, the longing for bygone times is very clearly audible on this record. Mellotron and Therevox are important pillars within the music of these Norwegians and on the whole, we can say that a retro sauce has been poured over the fairly quiet and atmospheric tracks. Sure, we occasionally hear riffing guitars but they certainly don't make the whole thing too intense or heavy. For the sake of completeness, here is the line-up, Jarle Wangen: bass, guitars and vocals, Morten Lund: guitars, keyboards and vocals, Jo Wang: keyboards and Therevox, Andreas Eriksen: keyboards and percussion, Kai Lundewall: drums and vocals. As you can see, with three vocalists, you would think there would be some vocal fireworks. Well, that's not the case, the vocals are very subdued and resemble those of Andy Latimer (Camel), and are sometimes a bit whiny. Now that the name has been mentioned, there are certainly elements of those British greats in the music of 35 Tapes, but without the beautiful extended solos on guitar. There are some solos but they don't really stand out. In general, I dare to say that keyboard lovers get their money's worth more than those of the guitar. The beautiful pieces on acoustic guitar can't change that either. There are six tracks on Veil On Life and there is a clearly an audible consistency meaning that not one track stands out because of a completely different atmosphere. This immediately indicates that there is no real highlight to mention either. The melancholic atmosphere is palpable and the overall sound is quite laidback. The tempo is mainly slow and apart from a few eruptions, in the form of guitar riffs, there are not many tempo changes. Opener Hallway is immediately a perfect indicator of the quality of this album. The music is fine and is pleasant to listen to, but the melody, at least for me, does not really stick. The already mentioned, flat and a bit dull, vocals are drowning in the nicely floating keys, reminding you of the 70s of the last century. Second track Water starts promising with some nice guitar riffs but contains no further surprises. There is also a bit of an early Genesis atmosphere and in Borrowed Time and Clueless that certainly comes to the fore with acoustic guitar parts that resemble those of the legends but without reaching the same level. The length of the tracks varies from over five to over eight minutes, with the longest track at the end Cities, the most beautiful song for me despite the somewhat unruly middle part in which the melody does not really stand out due to ingenuity or originality. This is one of those albums with music that passes you by for about forty minutes, gives a very pleasant feeling, relaxed even, but that you can't remember the next day. The melody lines, at least for me, do not stick and therefore apparently make too little impression. That's a shame, because this band plays well and there is certainly more potential. Vocally though, they do miss charisma and personality, as is the case with many other bands. All in all, a nice album that provides a pleasant listen but misses some memorable highlights. ***- Erik Fraanje (edited by Dave Smith) Where to buy? |
