MoE, the vocals, guitar and bass duo of Guro Moe and Håvard Skaset, is one
of the most interesting rock acts around today, merging aggression and a
punk attitude and with a love for improvised and experimental music. On
this release they're joined by frequent collaborator Ikuro Takahashi on
drums and alto saxophonist powerhouse Signe Emmeluth. While collaboration
and experimentation are to be expected with this band this record is
notable for mainly two reasons: it was recorded live in concert (which came
as a surprise to me because their chemistry is so great that I'd assumed a
lot of their records were recorded live) and it's the first MoE album in
which frontwoman and backbone of the band Guro Moe trades her trusty
electric bass for a double bass.
While each of the six untitled tracks has its own identity, the album is a
full gig recording with the dynamics of a concert as a consequence. After a
short minute of mood setting and acclimatization the four musicians get
straight to business with pummeling, fluid drumming, furious guitar bashing
and driving bass setting the stage for Emmeluth to shine on her sax. This
no holds barred first track immediately shows just how tight this band is
and will be throughout the album, the especially fantastic interplay
between the sax and the guitar being a highlight. The second track brings
the energy down a bit and rests on Moe's signature bass playing,
simultaneously gluing the band together and laying down a delightfully
off-kilter groove. Takahashi and Skaset take a step back, the former
focusing mainly on the cymbals and the latter turning his guitar into
something that resembles a synth pad, leaving the bass and sax to their
polyrithmic dance.
Track four, the midpoint of the concert, introduces hints of psychedelia,
with its effects-heavy guitar and a saxophone that at times sounds like a
half-remembered dream, but the music and the mood are in constant evolution
and the underwater feeling is soon spirited away by a massive bowed bass
riff and a desperate shriek.
In the latter half of the album the music takes on a mysterious quality and
something else takes center stage: Moe's fantastic vocal performance. While
the vocals and lyrics are present throughout the record (MoE is a rock band
at their core at the end of the day) it feels like at a certain point all
four musicians collectively decide to give priority to the vocal
performance for a while. And what a performance it is! Full of passion,
melody and angst, ranging from hissing whispers to operatic highs, often in
conversation and sync with Emmeluth's altissimo notes, it's endlessly
engaging and captivating Takahashi and Skaset then take on a more active
role, guiding the band towards a final crescendo of distortion,
blister-inducing bass playing and squealing sax overtones. For the second
time on the record the band proves to be just as capable at bringing the
energy down as building it up, something arguably harder to do
convincingly, and they close the concert out with a slithering bowed
bassline enveloped by Moe's soaring vocals.
All four musicians are extremely talented and have a very assertive voice.
The challenge for the band then becomes creating music that's balanced and
doesn't particularily revolve around any one musician and I think they pass
this challenge with flying colors. The players know exactly what and when
to play, when to be active and when to play support in order to serve the
music first and foremost. Emmeluth in particular is fantastic at exchanging
ideas with the others, always picking the right notes to embellish a guitar
chord or supporting a vocal melody,. There are no flashy solos or
traditional jazz or even rock forms, just collective creation of a kind of
music that revolves around attitude and emotion. It's an elating, moving
and lively album, beautifully recorded and presented. I hope to hear this
lineup together again soon.
Released on digitally and on CD by
Conrad Sound.
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