We’re breaking with an un-written tradition on this post. Regular readers will know that this music blog is all about uncovering new music. Essentially it’s about discovery. It’s about filtering out the great stuff from the mountains of average stuff that’s out there, dusting it down and handing it out to all those who care for quality new music. This means that if a band already has an album out we’re unlikely to provide coverage, as they’ve already emerged and we would only be adding to the coverage that’s already out there. Sure we can’t be first to everything, but we like to be early where possible to avoid supplying music that you’ve already discovered elsewhere. Today however we’re recommending a duo that already has two albums available! What’s going on you might ask? Well, let us explain…
Although this duo have already banked two albums this should still be a relatively new discovery to most people out there. Firstly, they come from a lake in Sweden that you’ve never heard of. Secondly, the albums haven’t done that well commercially, either here in the UK or in their home country, with little journalistic coverage, so it’s highly likely that you’re discovering them here. Thirdly, the second album is really a six-track EP, so that doesn’t even count as a proper album. Fourthly, (is that even a word!?), their new work is as sublime and beautiful as anything we’ve heard all year, so based on quality they more than qualify. Fifthly, (that’s definitely not a word!?), their previous work only arrived last year, so they’re hardly old news. Sixthly, the previous work is mainly electronic instrumentals, but now they push vocalists front and centre, marking out a new shift in direction. So have we convinced you that this qualifies yet? Actually, it seems like we’re trying to convince ourselves and crowbar this duo onto The Recommender doesn’t it? Fuck it, one click of the below play buttons and you’ll soon understand why.
Fort Fairfield are a duo from Sweden. They’re two brothers, Tom and John Luck, who enjoyed a childhood growing up in Jönköping, a town located at the south peak of the cold Lake Vättern. We caught up with older brother Tom who explained that they’re now splitting their time between the urban scenery of Malmo and the Swedish countryside. He confirmed that we should expect to see a new album, The Straw Boys, in 2012. They design the kind of music that we imagine The Line Of Best Fit would adore, with their Scandinavian, walking-paced, electronic beats and pulsed synths that give each song that signature heartbeat. Like so much of Sweden’s electronic pop output, they make perfect examples of musical architecture, with synthetic sounds in all the right places and some excellent vocals that provide the smoother edges, particularly those tracks that include the utterly fine voice of Cosima Lamberth. She brings a style of urban soul to their music that adds a translucent wave over their stabbing synths. She even has a slight Swedish accent that tweaks what is otherwise an American blanket.
This is best evidenced on Dresden Soul, which marries up her voice with a minimal electronic melody in a detached, but delightful juxtaposition. It’s equal parts inventive and attractive. If anything, it loosely reminds us of fellow Swedes, Grenades For The Wall, although that duo verge more towards the genre of RnB than Fort Fairfield. They play with another vocalist, De Montevert, on the track My Boys, choosing to dice up the voice in a choppy effect, to less success, but it still grows on you. It will fit nicely into the middle of an album. The tune that proves a real winner is another track which finds Cosima’s vocals involved. Patience is as arresting as the first time you heard Primal Scream‘s Come Together, including a similar set of chord changes that are just as melancholy and stunning. It’s music on a higher plane, with a rare warmth and beauty. It’s ultimately this special tune that’s pushed them onto our blog. We don’t plan on making a habit of covering artists that already have their album’s out, but we believe that this discovery was well worth breaking a Recommender rule for. (MB)
FORT FAIRFIELD – PATIENCE
FORT FAIRFIELD – DRESDEN SOUL
