(c) Tina Signesdottir Hult
A new Norwegian band around members of The Low Frequency In Stereo, Undergrünnen, Lumen Drones, Helldorado and Action & Tension & Space celebrates the lightness of being sluggish in a purely instrumental guise. The dunes are at home in cinematic post-rock, but also have an audible soft spot for 90s slowcore and create detailed landscape paintings. The trio’s first album is called plain and moving “The dunes” and drives the quiet beauty forward.
The opening “Mellow Skies” fits as a title like ass on bucket. Carefully, almost cautiously, the trio gropes their way, builds up the track and works towards pure magic. The drums attempt an almost jazzy claim, the almost clear guitars only later experience the corresponding distortion and unleash minimalist sound magic – delicately branded, reduced and yet so moving. “Zosima” also knows a complex substructure with a wafting bass line, whose subliminal thoughtfulness never really moves to the forefront and instead lets the threads come together in the background. Shortly before the crescendo the track collapses.
What makes the debut of Les Dunes impressive is the arrangement of the songs. These make for a gripping, stirring unit, but could just as easily stand on their own. They also break with post-rock expectations, as in “D And Ass”. Here the slowcore focus is reminiscent of the reduced side of Earth. Six and a half minutes ripple along and still burn in with warm textures. In the similarly long “Akkordskiftelåten”, on the other hand, typical genre patterns come through again, when the guitar gradually gains distortion, when additional layers combine to form a powerful climax, when the coda delicately plays around the events.
Actually not much happens on this record, but that’s exactly what inspires. Les Dunes are pushing instrumental post rock towards reduction and deceleration, letting their arrangements breathe and doing everything right. Little by little, enchanting paintings are built up, resulting in a fascinating large whole, moving at a leisurely pace. The Norwegians love gentle soft treading, it gets under their skin and into their hearts – strong songwriting with a heart for details results in a gripping insider tip.
Rating: 8/10
Available from: 03/24/2023
Available via: Captain Platte / Apollon Records (Cargo Records)
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Lesdunesband
Category: Magazin, Reviews