GRAVITY

As Anekdoten appeared to be stagnating a bit after their third album, it was time for the group to grab the bull by the horn and try to evolve. And this album is certainly a step away from their usual formula, although the least we can say is that it was not in the right direction. One of the factors working against it, outside the pressure to renew themselves, is that this album feels rushed, not only in its production: Anna-Sofi confirmed that they had to rush it out to the factory in order to meet the release date prior to their Western-European tour dates. The extra-terrestrial artwork is nice and an improvement the nihilistic previous album, but it (and the music) fail to deliver the excitement of the early releases.

Obviously if the songwriting is also improved compared with the ambient From Within, we are not at the level of Nucleus or Vemod. But the group loses much of its soul by running after the alternative rock scene and sound sometimes desperate in trying to find something different. While the opening Monolith retains their usual paw signature (Nordin's discreet vibes adding a little extra flavour), while Rhodes, Farsifas and Mellos (trons of them ;-) takes us back to the old Anekdoten world. Unfortunately this doesn't last; if War Is Over develops a too rare acoustic feel (mostly Barker's guitar), Ricochet (sounding like a Swedish REM or Muse track), the ambient Games We Play (hollow and shallow) and What Should But Didn't Die (this is another track that remains also credible) don't bring any excitement, even if it is clear that the new direction taken is not really convincing. Their Indie Rock falls a bit flat on its face, because of the band's usually good monochord feel. The title track is actually fairly pleasant even if it reminds Muse or early Radiohead, but the closing instrumental is little more a chordal jam without much interest, dare I call it a filler?

The problem with Gravity is that Anekdoten is aware they must progress, they certainly try to do different, but they simply try too hard and lose a bit of themselves in the process. Even if vastly different, Gravity is not any better or worse than the preceding From Within, I must say that they've taken different directions in my mind: their third wearing thin after many listens, while their fourth has gained a bit over repeated listening (but it had started badly on immediate listens), but it will never approach their better works either.