February 13, 2018 - Studio Barnhus
The first single from Shakarchi & Stranéus at Studio Barnhus is a pair of tracks from the B-Side of their upcoming album, the title of which I cannot find. After taking a break from being clever on facebook and finding that Pitchfork decided to review some guy who's mad at Drake, which is originally what I was going to do, I decided to field some real talent instead.
"I hope you like bongos," is about the biggest cop-out line I could've offered, because the subtext is that I'm not confident enough to say "These bongos are going to speak to the very oldest of your party chromosomes in you DNA." The first and main track out of the duo, 'Hessingen' is a multi-ancestral beach party anthem. If I were to go into it blind, the first twenty seconds might have a person such as myself, a self-caged songbird, prepping my vocal chords. Triumphant horns are the first signs of melody and in Coliseum fashion preps for an arena indie rock wail. But the track swerves.
If you're into online dating or romantic sentiment that isn't defeatist, this is your background track to reminiscing or swiping right. 'Hessingen' is ripe with romantic possibility. I hate to be the writer on this blog that can't shut up about romance, but. But nothing. As cenimatic as it is danceable, this long ass track (6:27) glides by. It's an easy all day listen. The range of jubilance is both sublte and far-reaching which is probably the sort of language that I should be avoiding, but truly inflections of Havana sensuality make a full lifespan from sparse groove to bon-fire chant.
The second track, which gains a lot of power from its title, 'Kungssten Bus Stop Riddim' is a carry out. And judging from the title listings on the soundcloud, a brief interlude to another destination-dance track. This term I just coined got me thinking, what the hell is Hessingen, and from what I can see, it's a Swedish home brewery. So we're either dealing with something idiosyncratic to the duo or to the language. Anyway, 'Kungssten Bus Stop Riddim' is a highly reverbed track sparsely populated with funk/reggae licks and a forefronted piano which all service the mantra "When everything is you…you…you." I really don't think that I should be taking a fall for finding romance in these tracks. All in all, it's a great companion piece and rounds off the dance energy with some soft catharsis. ⛰️