Jeniferever

"There's a taste left of yesterday—a reminder of how the good things never stay."

With constant, moderate tempos, layers of reverb-laden guitars, and subtle, half-whispered melodies, foursome Jeniferever weaves together the best elements of ambient, shoegaze, and indie to create songs felt ultimately in the gut, or in the hollow of the chest. Songs of the aftermath, that leave an impression and move and haunt me long after I've walked away from my stereo.

Jeniferever

I discovered Jeniferever while searching through artists related to two of my favorite bands, Last Days of April and Logh, both of whom, like Jeniferever, hail from the great musical nation of Sweden (a country which, given its better contributions, can be forgiven the miserable panderers ABBA). I'd been feeling a bit nostalgic a few days ago and was listening to LDoA's 2000 release Angel Youth, which led me to their Deep Elm labelmates Logh, which led me, finally, to the bands' compatriots Jeniferever. Such is the beauty of Spotify.

In addition to the track "From Across the Sea" (2006, linked to above through the band's name), the songs "Alvik" (also 2006),  "The Hourglass" (2009), and "The Beat of Our Own Blood" (2011) provide an introduction to both the variety and evolution of Jeniferever's sound. Constant throughout each are fairly moderate tempos, which allow the group to draw out and develop melodies and motifs around the vocals and complex guitar arrangements. The multiple guitars in these and other tracks are marked by significantly independent, yet somehow complimentary, arpeggiations and runs whose harmonies and dissonances are intensified by liberally applied reverb and delay. The instrumentation, atmosphere, and overall contour of the band's songs—especially the tendency of the drums, guitars, and other instruments to swell epically toward an emotionally charged, central climactic point—remind me of Texas' Explosions in the Sky; but, whereas that group allows their instruments to tell the entire story, Jeniferever vocalist Kristofer Jönson provides a vocal and lyrical overlay that differentiates the group from others like it.

Beautifully complimenting the band's instrumentation, Jönson's vocals appear as quiet, melodic pleadings and resignations, tossed out or almost whispered, even as each song's intensity grows. This approach fittingly reflects the lyrical content. Take, for example, the opening lines of "Swimming Eyes" (2006): "A silhouette's passing by in front of your eyes / Someone walking through the crowd / That's just her body, it's not her / Just a reflection of a time that's lost." Jönson's delivery communicates the longing, the despair, the near inability to say what needs be said in these lines. Subtlety is a lost art, it seems, a fact especially apparent in the base explicitness of modern lyrics, or in the way vocalists feel the need to over-express themselves to the point where nothing means anything special; by contrast, Jönson's presentation calls the lyrics' meanings into greater relief, reflecting the content in the form.

Jeniferever's first full-length album,
Choose a Bright Morning

At the risk of being the guy who always claims to prefer "their earlier stuff," I do enjoy Jeniferever's first full-length effort, Choose a Bright Morning, best as a complete album (in my defense, I did say I liked Lost in the Trees' newest work in my last post). My favorite track, though, is probably "The Hourglass" from the band's second full-length, Spring Tides, and their 2011 release Silesia does diverge enough from their previous work to make it stand out. But the group is definitely able to put together albums, not simply collections of songs—yet another rare but important art. It goes without saying that I  hope for another release in the future.

I somehow never realized it, but it turns out I listen to a lot of Swedish indie, emo, and post-whateverisfashionable (no one has ever been able to satisfactorily explain to me what "post-rock" means, which leads me to believe it's a hipster word invented solely to satisfy the ego...but I digress). Something about the way Swedish vocalists pronounce their English-language lyrics bends my ear—it sounds almost as if they sing everything with a constant "r" shape in the soft palate—and there's an atmosphere about the music that makes a lot of state-side rock seem disappointingly flat. In addition to Jeniferever, Last Days of April, and Logh, I'd also suggest listening to The Knife, Lykke Li, The Hives, Shout Out Louds, and The Cardigans, all of whom represent slightly different veins of Swedish rock, indie, electronica, and pop.

If you want to learn even more about the Swedish music scene, the Chicago-based rock talk show Sound Opinions, hosted by critics Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot, recently featured Sweden as the first stop on its "world tour" (you can listen to the episode as a podcast by clicking here). Their guest, Swedish critic Stefan Wermelin, provides a wonderfully informative and interesting look at how American and English music made its way to Sweden, and how Swedes transformed it into something all their own. If you're a music fan and you don't yet subscribe to Sound Opinions, I'd highly recommend it. Kot and DeRogatis are incredibly eclectic in their tastes, their analyses are top notch, their guests are phenomenal, and their reviews are spot on.

Happy Listening.

Lost in the Trees

"As a color she'll rise from the water, a golden light."

After two weeks of searching through bands and finding nothing terribly compelling to write about, I thought perhaps this little venture may have been in vain. Then I came home from class a few days ago and found the song "Red" by North Carolina's Lost in the Trees pulled up on Spotify—courtesy, once again, of my wonderful wife. I have listened to nothing else since.

Lost in the Trees

A larger group built around writer/composer Ari Picker, Lost in the Trees released its most recent album, A Church That Fits Our Needs, in 2012. The album was written, the band's website states, as a tribute to Picker's mother, who took her own life in 2009 and whose beleaguered, off-center portrait composes the album's cover.

The tracks "Walk Around the Lake," from the 2009 effort All Alone in an Empty House, and "An Artist's Song" from Church provide a strong introduction to the band's diverse but cohesive sound. The group synthesizes a variety of stylistic influences, from softer, folksy acoustic elements reminiscent of Damien Rice to more energetic, multi-instrumental powerhousing a la Arcade Fire. Lost in the Trees' instrumentation includes traditional rock's acoustic and electric guitars, bass, and drums, but also features piano, strings, dulcimer, and electronic instruments and tracks in more than a secondary, supportive role. Different instruments are featured on different tracks, creating varied atmospheres and moods, and the combination of male and female vocals further colors the band's sound.

Cover, A Church That Fits Our Needs

One of the most compelling aspects of Lost in the Trees' music is how the band uses time, often shifting between or using atypical/irregular meters and signatures. "Neither Here Nor There," the first full song on Church (after the album's short intro track), begins with an instrumental introduction that can be counted several different ways, then breaks into a verse in 7/4. "Red," linked to above as well, employs likewise atypical meters, oscillating between measures of 5/4 and 6/4 in the verses, then moving into a chorus whose meter I'm still trying to count. Heavy, wet snare and cymbal hits intensify this effect in "Red," calling attention to the way the female vocals and string instruments seem to drop down early from the top note of their ascending melody. Not all the band's songs make use of such metrical acrobatics, but those that do have a sort of sway, a driving-forward that couples seamlessly with the vocals and instrumentation in a way that distinguishes the band from others, like Animal Collective, who also play with rhythm and meter.

Overall, I enjoy the music on Church best, as it makes the most intentional use of the band's unique talents. I only wish I could better understand some of the lyrics, though more precise diction would detract from the mystique of Picker's vocals. What other groups have you found that feature similar sounds? Let us know via comment, and make sure to post a link of some kind.

Happy listening.