This album is, together with Dream Theater's new one, my most often played album so far. And I haven't just played it often in order to write a good review, but also because I like it so much, just as I like the new Dream Theater album a lot. I guess that the review could have been finished much sooner had Parasomnia appeared a month later. But whatever, let's discuss Elements. Gapminder was a new name to me. This Norwegian group hails from the south-western part of the country, from Stord and Haugesund to be more precisely. They started already back in 2008, but their debut album, Haematoma, which I haven't heard yet, was only released in 2022. In late 2024, the band released their second album Elements, as a vinyl LP on their own Pretentious Chords Records, and also as a digital release through various online streaming platforms. The LP is housed in a beautiful gatefold. Members on the album include Jørgen Hammersland (guitars and piano), Trond Holm (guitars), Torfinn Sirnes (guitars), Lars Kvinge (bass), Mats Moe (drums) and vocalists Sandra Lindwall and Rebecca Hammersland. The band's name reminded me instantly of the automatic warning in the London Underground ("Mind the Gap"), but according to their biography, it was inspired by the thought of being aware of and creating space in music. And football. Well, don't ask, I'm a football agnostic after all. Also, while Mogwai may have made a mini-album on Zidane, I tend to associate football with much less sophisticated music. Mogwai isn't even too bad of a reference, as Gapminder's post-rock stylisms may remind of this English group and others in the genre with slow build-ups, swelling towards a climax and all that. However, I remember Mogwai as noisier. The music of Gapminder is often more delicate with elements taken from classical music and jazz, and perhaps even some folk. If I understood the biography correctly, Haematoma was all-instrumental. On their second full-length album, Elements, Gapminder have introduced vocals. And not just simply one kind, no, each track treats the listener to something different: opening Dreamer has eerie female vocals in English, the complex and quirky Fjorden brings Norwegian spoken voice, Chaos brings almost classical male and female French singing, while the long closer U Solaris even has Latin lyrics, If I am honest, and I should be in a review, I am not too fond of the male Norwegian narration, but apart from that, Fjorden is for me a clear highlight. The soaring guitars in combination with the dominant bass are just awesome. But the dreaming female vocals of Chaos (quite a contrast to the title) are also enchanting. And then that soaring guitar that drives the track to a climax. Wow. The biography claims that the band's music has been described as cinematic, and yes, I can definitely confirm that. The cinematic touch shines through on the shorter tracks, but especially the 16 minutes U Solaris leaves much room for building up the atmosphere with layered guitars and whispered vocals (more Norwegian narration there, which to be honest, I find just a bit distracting from the music), then gentle Latin singing by the two ladies. This then builds up to a slow climax through repetitive guitar patterns, pounding bass and atmospheric keys and then, surprisingly, instead of exploding it slowly dies away. Summarizing, a great album by a talented band, both of which are worth discovering. **** Carsten Busch Where to buy? |
