LOVER'S END PT. III: SKELLEFTEÅ SERENADE

It must have been tough for Moon Safari to restrain themselves from including Skellefteå Serenade on their third album, Lover's End, but I definitely support this decision since it made the album more consistent while giving the band a chance of releasing their first EP!

Unlike the two previous parts of Lover's End that are featured on the 2010 studio album, this third part is a sightly different beast that sounds more at home on the band's first two albums than on their slightly more assessable releases like Lover's End or Himlabacken Vol.1. Having said that, I just don't feel that the work here has the same high quality as those older releases. The composition feels much more polished and calculated than some of their rawer longer tracks from the pre-Lover's End era.

I remember seeing Moon Safari performing this composition during their 2012 tour where they labeled it simply as Lover's End Pt. III. To be completely honest, I wasn't all that into the band and their music at that point and actually considered this 20+ minute performance to be the concert's biggest letdown. This feeling has unfortunately rubbed itself off since I still don't consider it anywhere near any of their other highlights. The composition is really slow with each section feeling very dragged out for the sake of it. Normally, this is a good thing since it gives the listener time to acquaintance oneself with the music but there are just no enough memorable/distinguishable moments to push this composition alone during it's lengthy duration.

So far I've heard this composition eight times, two of which have been in a live setting, and I'm honestly still not convinced that it's as good as everyone seems to think that it is. Yes, it definitely has some great moments; My personal favorite comes at the solo section right around the 20 minute mark. But those moments can be summarized on one hand and the total composition time is not really as good as the sum of those blissful moments.

If you a big fan of Moon Safari then you've probably already heard this track quite a few times. Anyone who is unfamiliar with the band should probably begin by exploring either [Blomljud] or Lover's End since those two albums give a much broader perspective on the band's work. If you really like what you've heard on Lover's End then this EP and/or Himlabacken Vol.1 should be your next step in uncovering the music of Moon Safari. Please note that I by no means want to be disrespectful to all the fans of Skellefteå Serenade. If you enjoy this work then I'm really glad for you and it's unfortunate that I couldn't get the same level of enjoyment out of this composition.

*** star songs: Lover's End Pt. III: Skellefteå Serenade