US AND THEM

— First review of this album —

Swedish duo US AND THEM have been creating music for just about a decade by now, with one full length album and a number of EPs and singles to their name. Their most recent effort is a three track single called "By the Time It gets Dark", named after the opening track, released through the Regal Crabomophone division of UK label Fruits de Mer Records as a gloriously and collectable timeless 7 inch vinyl single.

The first two tracks here are cover versions, and while I am familiar with the artists Sandy Denny and Donovan I've never really listened to the material they released, apart from possibly catching some songs played on radio by chance I guess. Just how close or not Us and Them's takes on these songs are I really don't know, although my gut feeling is that these renditions might be somewhat different from the originals.

Us and Them appears to be exponents of the folk-oriented parts of the psychedelic rock realm, with a distinct emphasis on folk and perhaps not as much on rock, if at all. Their recordings are sparse, lo-fi sounding affairs, where a singular acoustic guitar motif and the sensual, pleasant vocals of Britt Rönnholm carry the songs.

By the Time It gets Dark explores this territory in a frail and delightful manner, with a metal based careful percussion detail as a recurring supplemental feature, careful flute-sounding details that might or might not be provided by a Mellotron, the same for a brief but important inclusion of strings presumably digital in nature. Jabberwocky is more of the same, but with more room for whatever keyboards are used, a subtle and elegant rise in intensity, layered acoustic guitars if my hearing is tuned in good and some gentle but effective vocal effects thrown in for good measure. A brilliant piece of music in this rendition. Impressive.

Concluding composition Do I Know You is an original by this band, and one a fair degree more experimental at that. Cold, nervously fluttering electronic backdrops a key and recurring detail, a sequence sports sparse, static drums as an additional detail, vocal effects are used again too, as are a flute sounding detail and what appears to be a harpsichord towards the end. Lo-Fi folk inspired music with a distinct psychedelic sound this concluding, and of a kind that I suspect might merit a pointer towards the acid folk environment.

Delicate, fragile folk inspired music is what Us and Them explore, within a fairly lo-fi context, and supplemented with careful psychedelic additional details by keyboards and possibly electronics. From careful constellations of pure beauty to escapades somewhat more challenging in nature, in a manner that might give you associations to shrooms and, indeed, acid, this single should be a treat to fans of acid folk as well as those with a taste for careful folk inspired psychedelic music where much is based around a female vocalist carrying the songs, with a delicate acoustic guitar the main supporting instrument.