Review Summary: If the sun were a lone streetlamp...
Kim Larsen, from :Of the Wand and the Moon: fame, adds a new set of colors to his palette with his new project, Solanaceae. With the help of some friends, he produces an emotional experience that puts a new spin on an old template. Yes, this music was definitely written by the man who brought us the brilliantly despairing :Of the Wand and the Moon:, but there are several notable departures that set this album apart from his other work.
The artwork, for one, depicts a jovial, medieval scene full of dancers, knights and smiles crowded together in front a bright, yellow background. This world shown on the cover seems very happy, disturbingly so. In this way, the music presented herein plays in a similar fashion. Larsen has traded his usual four-chord strumming for finger-picking. This makes the music sound somewhat lighter, but like the artwork, an oppressive darkness seems to loom just behind it.
Solanaceae has produced something very isolating with this record. On songs like
Through The Trees Spears The Sun, the music is deceptively bright and uplifting. With the warmth of the French horn and the swells of violin, the listener may initially feel as though they are basking in the sun, reclined on rolling hills. In actuality, it is as if the sun were a lone streetlamp, offering an island of light, encapsulated and consumed by the dark. Instead of immediately presenting the weighty emptiness, Solanaceae conceals it, hiding the pain and sorrow behind a smile.
Many guest musicians teamed with Larsen to bring this music to life. Michael Laird (Unto Ashes) contributed lyrics to several songs and is the sole performer on
The Blood of My Lady II. Members of the band Arrowwood also brought a wide variety of instrumentation to pair with Larsen’s now classic dark, airy vocals and guitar. Some of the instruments appearing on this release include the violin, flute, glockenspiel, Himalayan singing bowls, French horn, accordion and an assortment of drums and percussion.
With so much at their disposal, Solanaceae set themselves apart from Larsen’s other projects by creating music that does not solely rely on Larsen’s vocals to carry it. This is evidenced by songs like
The Swallows Spirals Through Them where the first half of the song is lead by a violin solo supported by the solemn plucking of Larsen’s guitar. When the lyrics do appear, they are soon overcome by a distant weeping flute, organ and percussion that carry the song out in a dying drone.
Solanaceae further assert the independence of their music by including the three instrumentals
Fenella,
Nakkiel II and
Samorost. These songs are carried by simple, melodic ideas that do very well at singing in place of Larsen. The central themes of both
Fenella and
Samorost are carried by the recorder and supported by Larsen’s omnipresent acoustic guitar. The prancing rhythms of both songs keep to the medieval, minstrel-y theme, suit the artwork precisely and lace a red thread through the album.
The music of
Nakkiel II is comprised of French horn, glockenspiel and guitar. Like many Larsen songs, the theme is presented immediately. The horn and guitar share the melody and are joined later by the chiming echo of the glockenspiel. The three together create a light, dream-like quality but it is not all together present.
Nakkiel II is a pleasant nightmare, a shadow that grins and disappears when a laugh is heard.
Another new element here is the lack of electronic manipulations and soundscapes that usually characterize much of Larsen’s other music. In a way, they do still exist though. Songs like
O Deep Woods and
I Saw Them Through The Pines are either prefaced by the climbing drone of an organ or the high-pitched hum of the singing bowls.
However, with all that said, Solanaceae is still extremely reminiscent of :Of the Wand and the Moon: and will appeal to fans of Larsen’s “darker” music. As said before, this music may seem lighter and brighter than usual, but a similar or near identical atmosphere possesses it and drives it. It is Larsen’s vision displayed under a different light, from a different angle. It seems safe to say that was Larsen’s motivation and inspiration behind the forming of this project and he has succeeded quite well.
