KALLOCAIN

More melancholic and gloomy music from Sweden, and I love it ! Seven of the nine tracks are graced with mellotron; add to that the hypnotic vocals of Pertonella, along with some cello and violins and you have atmospheric and ambiant music to chill to. I should mention that Steven Wilson mixed this recording.The band has mentioned PORTISHEAD, KING CRIMSON, CAN and BJORK as influences.

"Gasoline" sounds quite different from the rest mostly because she sings with some passion after 2 1/2 minutes. Violin to open before drums and bass thankfully take over. Violin joins in. Great sound ! When she sings after 2 1/2 minutes a full sound joins her with chunky bass. Themes are repeated. A top three track for me. "Holding On" is slow paced with hypnotic vocals along with mellotron and light drums. Some cello too. Besides "Gasoline" my other favourite is "Happiness" which is the most upbeat on the album. Simply an incredible track.

"Absinth Minded" opens with electonics as the vocals join in before a minute. Amazing sound before 3 minutes. It settles again 4 minutes in. "Look At Us" is pastoral to open but it builds to a fuller sound. Cello and piano too. "Reality" is atmospheric to open as reserved vocals come in. Electronics later. "Stream" opens with slowly played piano as those soft vocals come in. A fuller sound after 3 1/2 minutes with mellotron. "Won't Be Coming Back" has a beautiful melody to it. A top three for me. Lots of mellotron and I like the guitar too. "In Time" is another atmospheric, laid back tune.

I feel that "Kallocain" is an improvement on "Timeloss", I actually think it's quite a bit better in many ways.There isn't anything I don't like on this record, which I can't say about "Timeloss".