As titles for third albums go, one that references a detention centre at the notorious Guantanamo Bay is an interesting choice, whatever way you choose to look at it. Norway’s Highasakite have established confliction within their work straight away, as they move away from their universally adored Silent Treatment record, to Camp Echo which is a significantly darker, electronic detour.
“The theme of the album is war and terrorism,” singer Ingrid Helene Havik admitted in a recent interview. “Not the war at home, like on our last album, but what is going on in the world right now.” It’s all pretty heavy stuff for a band that became indie darlings in Australia thanks to their 2014 hit Since Last Wednesday, which subsequently found its way into Triple J’s Hottest 100 list. The spacious folk stylings have been traded in, like an old and overused car for a faster, more dangerous model. Yet despite all the perceived political leanings, it seems appearances can still be deceiving.
The record begins with My Name Is Liar as a scattering of electronics trickle away before Havik’s distinctive vocals take over. “I am at one with what I am” she repeats, as the beat morphs into a slow jam momentarily, before a shuffle ushers in a bouncy chorus. Samurai Sword then follows but it always feels like it is working to get to the chorus each time, while once it gets there it just trades in the usual fare of soaring vocals and cascading synths.
The first single to be released from the record, Someone Who’ll Get It begins in menacing fashion due to its paired down production. “Send somebody to me alive, send somebody to me tonight, send somebody who’s not likely to break, send a soldier,” Havik sings evocatively and somewhat ambiguously. The song practically palpitates with tension as the spiralling synths and the ominous clatter of drums warn you of what may be ahead. Then, the quick-fire force of gunshots cut through the mix and the tension all slips away as a huge chorus enters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFTNeTwzEkQ
The anxiety soaked electro-pop of My Mind Is A Bad Neighbourhood comes next. The erratic pulse of the beat perfectly mirrors Havik’s lyrics as she declares, “either you are with us or you’re with the terrorists.” The battle cry then picks up momentum as the beat begins to become comfortable and settles into a propulsive groove. Meanwhile, on God Don’t Leave Me Now Havik battles with perceptions of not only the self but her faith too. Within the sparse arrangement she questions her place during a time where everything appears to be so utterly bleak and hopeless. “Creator of my mind, you crossed the line this time,” she sings in one of the best lines on the record. The downcast reflection showcasing the band in perfect sync as they mix their previous sound with a new found love for electronics.
“I think Camp Echo is very different: it’s more electronic and more up-tempo, and maybe more aggressive… I’ve been listening to a lot of The Prodigy, Fever Ray, The Knife and Die Antwoord,” Havik revealed recently.
The aggression can be found in the beats themselves but also within the lyrics that jump from one target to the next. On Golden Ticket Havik brutally dissects the world around her with the assertion that, “God if you’re watching, there are no more happy days.” All the destruction, tragedy and loss has worn Havik down and despite the upbeat music that surrounds it all, she seems to be having a hard time making sense of any of it. The euphoric push and pull of the 1980’s style synths and the club ready chorus contrasting against the despairing and toned down verses.
That technique is perhaps also indicative of the record as a whole. It appears nice on the outside, through the use of bright synths and pulsing rhythms, but something sinister festers the deeper you get inside of them. On Deep Sea Diver for example, it is easy to get lost within the warped synths as they weave around an upbeat drum pattern. The line, “I am not one to slash my wrists because you’re leaving,” may initially pass by without any real comprehension. But beyond the first listen that is when these lyrics become clearer.
“It’s not a political album in the sense that I want people to side with a specific party or mindset, but it has been central in my life. There are not many love songs on the album, because I haven’t been in that state of mind for a long time. Global warming and war have been my main concern,” Havik said. Album closer Chernobyl confronts this mentality with suitably dark overtures to bring an end to an abrasive, yet also colourful, album.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2NopIx3sTg
Check out Highasakite’s ‘Thee Albums’ feature here
Image: Culture Glaze
It’s video roundup time! Once again, Howl And Echoes are coming in hot with the freshest, most eyeball-stimulating music videos to be dropped by the artists you love and some of the artists you don’t know you love yet this week. We do all the dirty work and herd them all into one convenient web-based location for you to enjoy every Friday so that you don’t have to. Have yourself a good old gander at the latest offerings from:
Shabazz Palaces – Dawn In Luxor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4j6TcLiANW8
Starting in Seattle this week with experimental hip-hop duo Shabazz Palaces and their latest video for Dawn In Luxor. It’s a track from all the way back in 2014 and their second album Lese Majesty, and majestic is definitely the operative word here. This is hip-hop soaring with wings, clever bars over a thick backbeat and a wall of noise that’s almost suffocating.
The visuals are an equally stunning accompaniment, gorgeous scenic shots of mountains and raging rivers, sunsets and the great unknown of outer space. The footage comes courtesy of the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Hubble and Cassini missions, which is all so unbelievably cool. The entire experience is just utterly immersive.
Lese Majesty is out now on Sub Pop via Inertia.
MOSSY – Ginsberg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H10z83zcE4
MOSSY has been quite the regular in our video roundup since signing to I Oh You not so long ago and proceeding to drop jaw-dropper after jaw-dropper out of the gate. With his debut EP having just touched down, the Sydney producer has this week released another single in Ginsberg and he hasn’t disappointed.
A slow-burning jazzy backbeat and MOSSY’s gentle crooning create a smoking lounge atmosphere, his pipes soar skywards over the chorus with unexpected power. It’s dark and dusky and yet another solid outing from MOSSY. The video finds the producer suiting up and cutting some proper shapes in a completely blanketed living room before the world’s most adorable baby makes a cameo at the end and yanks on every one of your heartstrings.
MOSSY’s self-titled debut is out now via I Oh You.
Pantha Du Prince – In An Open Space
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ8QWAIjLiQ
German producer Pantha Du Prince has shared his latest in the lead-up to his next album The Triad. It’s called In An Open Space and it’s just gorgeous. A discordant opening slowly blends into a shimmering backbeat under some whisper-soft vocals. It’s a beautiful melody that is perfect for dim lights on a cold night.
The video follows the trail of three mysterious masked figures (who have made previous appearances in Pantha Du Prince’s other videos) who traipse an overcast countryside before meeting and unmasking. It’s a tad creepy and ritualistic in parts (especially those stony-faced reflective masks) but with moments of light-hearted humanity and all wonderfully shot by Cedric Reitzmann.
The Triad is out today via Rough Trade/Remote Control Records.
Foursix – Favors
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRuXFSCRsm4
Over to the Big Apple for this next one from music and art collective Foursix. Favors is the name of their debut single and video. Seven members make up Foursix but just two of them feature on Favors in Verdé Madera and J-Payso. Deliberate production anchored by simple piano chords and off-kilter trap beats form the tapestry over which Madera and Payso cleverly flow about the daily grind.
The video is fantastic, a look at Madera and Payso’s initially shitty workaday world before their tight-buttoned office all of a sudden lets their hair down and gets Wolf Of Wall Street messy. It’s as slick a debut as you could ask for and there’s something about these guys that is just magnetic.
Looking very much forward to what the rest of the Foursix collective can do.
Highasakite – Golden Ticket
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2NopIx3sTg&feature=youtu.be
Over the Atlantic to Norway for this next one with dream pop outfit Highasakite. Their new record Camp Echo is out this week and they’ve squeezed out one last single and video before that bomb drops in the glittery Golden Ticket.
It’s an up-tempo electro pop number, driven by a pulsating beat and leading into that absolutely heavenly chorus that will shoot you to the stars. Pop distilled to it’s purest form, I can’t stress enough the near cocaine-effect of that chorus. The video will grip you just as hard, gold and electric purple hues coating some mesmerising contemporary dancing. The entire thing is incredibly satisfying on both sonic and aesthetic levels and it certainly does appear that Highasakite have the golden ticket to spend the rest of 2016 lifting right off.
Camp Echo is out today via Caroline Australia
Tired Lion – Not My Friends
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNKzInyG9n4
Music video homages are always great and this week’s effort from Perth upstarts Tired Lion is no exception. For the appropriately titled Not My Friends, Tired Lion have reimagined the iconic opening credits scene from the mother of all sitcoms in Friends as well as a whole bunch of your other favourite shows of all time including That 70s Show, The Office, Home Improvement and a whole lot of others we won’t spoil, just watch and enjoy.
The song goes all kind of hard (frontlady Sophie Hopes is rock and roll as all fuck) and the gargantuan grimy riffs and lyrical subjects are a heavy pairing, but its all juxtaposed amazingly with the sheer amount of fun the band are having emulating all these classic television moments. It’s videos like this that make these roundups such a joy to write and big ups to Tired Lion for killing it in both audio and visual formats on this latest tune.
You can catch the guys on their headlining Australian tour happening right now before they head to the UK and Europe for a jaunt and then get back here in time for Splendour. 2016 is absolutely shaping up to be the year of the (Tired) Lion.
The Last Shadow Puppets – Miracle Aligner
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPsyynjHpbY
Rock super-duo Alex Turner and Miles Kane, also known as The Last Shadow Puppets made their triumphant return in 2016 with their massive sophomore record Everything You’ve Come To Expect. The latest single from that album is the silky smooth Miracle Aligner, gentle crooning over pure rock and roll. Picture mum-rock artists of yesteryear like Bread and Air Supply but with a somewhat dark modern twist.
Looking to emulate the aesthetics of that era, The Last Shadow Puppets set their spray tan guns to ‘kill’ and donned suits and hairdos for their choreographed slow motion dance routine that would make Countdown dancing extras beam with pride. It’s all a bit of a poke at the shallow world of the famous and it’s up there with previous visual efforts Aviation and Everything You’ve Come To Expect for excellence.
Everything You’ve Come To Expect is out now via Domino.
Hockey Dad – So Tired
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xjAS7Q0fmY
Surf punk might be the favourite genre of this writer and there are few practitioners of it in this part of the world more proficient at it than Windang dynamic duo Hockey Dad. That statement rings especially true of their latest single, the hook laden, fuzzed up summer jam So Tired.
Catchy as the clap, frontman Zach Stephenson’s wail is refreshingly unique and hooks you as much as the chugging melody. The video will make you long for summer, awash in pink hues with Hockey Dad and friends jamming out on a sun-drenched beach and having what looks like the single best time ever (while you’re probably watching it from a cold, heartless office desk).
It’s tunes like So Tired and bands like Hockey Dad that have us so excited for the future of Australian rock, and we’re thoroughly fiending for their debut record. It’s called Boronia and it’s out August 12th on Farmer And The Owl via Inertia.
We are just three days out from the highly anticipated release of Norway’s Highasakite‘s new album release. Titled Camp Echo, a namesake taken from one of seven detention camps within Guantanamo Bay, Highasakite are set to build upon the already flawless ground work they’ve laid out thanks to previous records, further cementing their reputation as some of the finest music makers in the northern hemisphere.
With a touring schedule over the next few months that boasts the likes of The Great Escape and Latitude, it’s safe to say Highasakite are really starting to pick up across the globe – and for very good reason. Since they took the world’s breath away with their 2014 debut, Silent Treatment, HAAK have only gotten better, and that is evident from the recent string of singles we’ve been listening to over the past few months.
In the lead up to Camp Echo‘s release, we asked synth player Øystein Skar which three albums have changed his life. Check out his answers below and preorder Camp Echo here – you know you want to!
Fever Ray, Fever Ray
A huge inspiration for me! A lot of great synths and sounds put together inside very clever and tasty production. I really want to see this live sometime in the future. I have a lot of respect for Fever Ray and really like this project, and everything else that she does as well. Check it out!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBAzlNJonO8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F-CpE73o2M
Air, Talkie Walkie
This album really opened my mind when it comes to the form of songs. A friend showed it to me the first time and, like Fever Ray, this is also really, really good production. Everything is so tasteful and has a meaning to it. Great album by a great band.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_7oOMzbpa0&list=PL90UtRUJmf-_NzZHxQi542aAgmrV8rV1C
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XigL1FZ2KzU
Miles Davis, Kind of Blue
This is a standard answer for this kind of question, but there’s a reason for it! The way the band plays and interacts with each other is so good, special and inspiring to listen to. I have listened to this album so much, and still find new things to check out closer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqNTltOGh5c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPfFhfSuUZ4
Highasakite have announced that their new EP Keep That Letter Safe, will be out September 4. The EP features the current radio single Keep That Letter Safe and four tracks recorded live at Laneway Festival this year, including the Triple J favourite Since Last Wednesday:
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Keep That Letter Safe is the band’s first new single in more than 15 months, as the Norwegian five-piece have been touring nearly non-stop since the spring 2014 release of Silent Treatment, and are currently on a world tour with fellow Nordics Of Monsters And Men. The busy band toured Australia twice within six months, most recently for Laneway Festival in February where this EP was recorded. As I’m sure those of you lucky enough to have been at Laneway Festival will agree, this EP is a commendable addition to their debut LP Silent Treatment.
Listen to the title track here.
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HIGHASAKITE – KEEP THAT LETTER SAFE EP – OUT SEPTEMBER 4
TRACKLISTING
- Keep That Letter Safe
- Lover, Where Do You Live? (triple j Live At The Wireless Laneway 2015)
- Since Last Wednesday (triple j Live At The Wireless Laneway 2015)
- Darth Vader (triple j Live At The Wireless Laneway 2015)
- Leaving No Traces (triple j Live At The Wireless Laneway 2015)
Put them in their natural habitat and Highasakite cannot put a foot wrong – given an empty space, they will fill it with light, energy and a tension they like to twist and pull like a cord around front woman Ingrid Håvik’s finger. Their Like a Version (absolute must watch numero uno priority) speaks to their passion and performativity – who brings their own lighting to a radio performance? On a wild and wet night in Sydney, the Norwegian five-piece drew us into a warm place, closed our eyes and tucked us into each other with a beautiful show that was tragically underfilled, but nevertheless superb.
2014 Unearthed High winner Japanese Wallpaper has rightly gone on to great success following his high school graduation, playing Falls Festival over New Years, sneaking onto #97 on the Hottest 100, and now supporting Highasakite on their Laneway sideshows. On stage I was surprised by his luxe vocal abilities, knowing of his collaboration with the velvet-voiced Jesse Davidson on Between Friends and with other vocalists, including Pepa Knight of Jinja Safari and Wafia. On stage last night, seventeen year old Gab Strum showed he has pipes of his own as he took us through simple songlines laden with rich xylophone jewel tones. There is a hopeful innocence to his music in the simplicity of each song and his dreamy synth work. While a lot of his tracks follow the same structure and instrumentation, he does what he knows well and puts together a pretty sexy lullaby.
Highasakite started their set with an intro of ambient sounds so soft and subtle it was only when they took the stage, appearing as golden-gilded angels, that the audience erupted and was swiftly reduced to silence by Ingrid’s voice, ringing out acapella across the crowd. The beautiful Edison-style orange lighting that travels with them (see: Like A Version) added a powerful atmosphere to the performance, at times casting a candle-like glow and others bursting into full silhouettes. Ingrid Håvik is undoubtedly the star – her charisma is in her violet hair, her evocative gestures, her absolute confidence to stand alone in front of a microphone and not have to do anything but sing to have the audience in her palm. The mix of live instruments and electronic made for an engaging performance, with the flugelhorn making many an appearance and a light-emitting drumkit ensuring that while Ingrid commands the crowd she is backed by similar energy and commitment.
The setlist was a mix of their debut album and last year’s “Silent Treatment”, with Hottest 100 #77 Since Last Wednesday and the infectiously joyous Darth Vader rousing the crowd and providing gig highlights. The contrast between big powerful unisons and sliding, sweet interludes keeps the audience riding the crests of each wave of sound, with something primal in the calls and crash of their Scandi- sound. The mix of Ingrid’s Lykke-Li-sounding throatiness, an insistent cowbell and clanging keys of I, The Hand Grenade create a slight dissonance that grabs you, then gives way suddenly to a wall of harmonized perfection. Ending with an encore of Bon Iver’s Heavenly Father, the resonance and shadowy power of Highasakite as an ensemble is glorious indeed, and not to be missed if you have the chance.
HIGHASAKITE are performing at St Jerome’s Laneway Festival.
Hey y’all! Welcome to the first edition of our brand new weekly video-roundup, where I post some of my favourite new music clips from the past week. Enjoy!
Highasakite, Leaving No Traces
Anyone who’s read my stuff for a while knows how much I love Norway’s Highasakite. A ‘concept video’ addressing the relationship between nature and culture, there’s some brilliant stop-motion and some utterly eerie empty symbolism in this one, topped off by an endlessly catchy, yodel-friendly track. Catch these guys at Laneway!
Adria, Pull Me Under
I posted up about Adria’s new single Pull Me Under last week, and here’s the video to go along with it! A sexy slow-burner with a deep, driving bass and a swish piano countermelody, the intimate black and white clip really encapsulates the sensuality of it all, without being predictable or boring for a moment.
Public Service Broadcasting, Gagarin
Spacemen, funk music, radio space samples and jammin’ guitars. Were the dancing astronauts an homage to one of America’s best dance music websites? We’ll never know, but everything about this video and the song is infectiously fun.
Run The Jewels, Oh My Darling (Don’t Cry)
It’s a fairly stock standard hip hop clip but, like their music, still manages to stay miles ahead of anything else. The naked woman is as graceful as she is sexy, the weird video-manipulations stretching out the scenes is strange and new. As hip hop clips go, this is great.
EMRSN, About Love
A perfect blend of treble future-beats and seductively smooth R&B, this is probably my favourite video clip this week. The video is simple – it’s just a face, but separated and split up by disconnected squares. It’s that contrast – the utter basic with the totally new – that makes this so interesting. Watch as the squares slowly come together like the Rubik’s Cube you never knew it was.
Jack Ladder & The Dreamlanders, Her Hands
Jack Ladder & The Dreamlanders have been making all sorts of a name for themselves recently. Set at Sydney’s Town Hall, the simple yet super interesting video features Jack and a blonde, married cross-dresser sitting together, before parting ways and cautiously following each other around – or is she running from him? We’ll never know.
Norwegian five-piece Highasakite are one of my favourite discoveries of 2014. Their hit single Since Last Wednesday hit the radio waves pretty hard for a while, but they’ve stayed under the radar enough that when they came to Australia, they only played two shows, and they were at relatively intimate venues. The Oxford Art Factory is the perfect venue for their gorgeous sound, and it filled every single atom in that dark room.
Melbourne’s Hoodlem started the show. A recent discovery of mine, I was really disappointed to have arrived late, but alas, the circumstances were as such.
The band began within moments of my arrival, and the crowd was already heaving with an excited buzz. Ingrid Helene Havik has as much stage presence and vocal power as the recording indicates. Dressed more like a rapper than an electro-pop crooner, the Norwegian frontwoman donned a low baseball cap, gold bangles and a badass demeanour. As the band went straight into first track Lover, Where do you Live? We knew we were in for something special. Waxing angelic, her voice has a uniquely rich quality to it. It’s unlike anything else.
Known for their thrilling live performances, it was clear that the band thought carefully about more than just the music. These round, gold, luminescent lights adorned the back curtain, giving the group an eerie yet warm appearance. An interesting array of instrumentation on stage, I was so pleased that the drummer was towards the front of the stage. I love when bands do this, especially when percussion plays such a dominant role in the musical landscape.
As the band ran through most of their breakthrough album Silent Treatment, the audience were drawn in for every beat, every note. Hiroshima and Darth Vader were powerful, demanding tunes that rang out throughout the venue with such an epic, crystalline beauty. It was nothing short of breathtaking. My personal favourite tune of theirs is Iran, and that was a definitely highlight. The satirical lyrics packed a punch, and Havik’s electric melody glistened.
It was phenomenal to see how much noise a five piece could make – there easily could’ve been ten people on stage. The sound was close to orchestral at points, especially when additional drums were brought out, when guitarist Kristoffer Lo put down his axe and picked up (what I’m pretty sure was) a flugelhorn, and when the guitar was played with a violin bow (if you’ve never heard that before, go and look it up now – wow). Live brass always does something special to me; and this was no exception.
The thunderous drums boomed and crashed, adding so much intensity, so much depth to the already strong tunes. After a one-song encore, I only wish they’d gone on for a little longer.
A breathless, ethereal and incredibly powerful set through and though. Considering the gig was presented by Laneway, I can only assume that they’ll be heading back here pretty soon – and I highly recommend attending when they do.