We’ve been gearing up for quite some time with this record haven’t we? After the spooky “Mujina/Locked In The Basement” track and a video teaser of “Vinterbarn”, Fredrik gave us plenty of material in steady anticipation of their second full-length, Trilogi. Hot on the heels of their stellar, and at times frighteningly addictive debut, Na Na Ni, Trilogi was faced with tremendous expectations. And you know what Fredrik did with those expectations? Nothing at all. They simply brushed them off to the side as if they were never there in the first place. They said, “Hey, we made a wonderful pop album, now let’s try to get all eerie and instrumental on our second release.”
Trilogi is a fantastical 13-track album, full of trippy moments that stick in your head whether you want them there or not. Meticulously arranged (and ever so subtly,) it’s what I like to call a “hides-under-your-bed” album. Just when you’re ready to relax a haunting tone sneaks up on you and keeps you awake, wide-eyed and breathless. You’d think from the slow pace of the album and the oftentimes soothing vocals that you could use it for background music to your work, or perhaps a good ol’ prep before sleepy time. But you’d think wrong, my friend – Trilogi has way too much going on and it heavily lures you into its world of phantoms, spells, and mystery bells. The tracks are incredibly dynamic – at one point, on “Viskra”, you’re heading down a dark tunnel as the light escapes you, then all of a sudden (at about 2:10) it’s as if the tunnel turns into glass and everything becomes visible again. Don’t even try to stay away from getting sucked in; let it move you.
The Swede fellas are certainly not in to make Trilogi an easy listen for us. The album comes very much from their Swedish background; it’s their own strain of Northern European music. The noises are even tribal-sounding, to an extent. Consistent keys, bells, horns and like-minded instrumentation tempt us to join Fredrik from the beginning, with the murky waters on “Vinterbarn” and the intensely plucked strings on “Milo”, and never let go. Which, of course, all but makes Trilogi a keeper.
Fredrik – “Vinterbarn” [MP3]
wonderful album.