Somehow Havstrakt simultaneously sounds as if deep underwater, quite daring while remaining gentle and relaxing. I hear the northern wilderness, the music suggests a combination of flowing sensations from high above the ocean air, at the same time also coming from deep within the marine depths.
Quiet and otherworldly
From Sweden, with jagged rocks in the sea and forested mountains in the cloudy distance, this new music by Snufmumriko seems to start with the idea of a remote boral polar sea stretch, think of birds, breezes, the small waves meeting the rocky shore; dark and sweetly melancholic. Somehow Havstrakt simultaneously sounds as if deep underwater, quite daring while remaining gentle and relaxing. I hear the northern wilderness, the music suggests a combination of flowing sensations from high above the ocean air, at the same time also coming from deep within the marine depths. The music does not require you to struggle to understand complexities, you just enjoy the slow downbeat show, subtle delicate isolated grand piano echoes, foghorn drone sounds, expanding the darkness into a chilly foggy place (the listener can stay warm and dry). Sometimes we are in a cave, and in places that cave is pretty big. The instruments are probably somewhere nearby, the atmosphere is sad and brooding, lingering mysteriously and rich with ideas and details. Almost like storytelling, I hear a richly detailed fantasy sound providing an experience depicted using only music, quiet and otherworldly (the old ghost kind) against a shimmering mirage from over the seas, with no words. Havstrakt is eight tracks followed by nine remix versions of those tracks but you might never know that there are any repeated offerings. The atmosphere sustains.
Opening with a breezy tree and those birds, followed by an emerging steady tempo from under the water and by the shore at the same time. Archipelago quince is a marshland fruit that grows wild in Scandinavia, “Skärgårdskväde” (4:24) is the Swedish name for Archipelago quince. Impossible to describe, the sound is of a woodland near the sea, with slowly coiling distant synthesizer drones. When describing a dream words always fall short, then they trigger fragments of new thoughts and some of them cascade into yet another form of beauty. Now we are hearing the waves coming in and I think I hear a low voice for a moment, we are underwater but also in the mountains, sort of walking along in the sea, trying to get the man’s voice on the radio to connect. The atmosphere is swaying slowly, until there is a sly beat “Gamla kuststigar” (5:50).
Old coastal paths are where I wander in my best dreams, this goes on forever and I don’t want it to stop, layers and impressions of the ocean and the winds. “Havsklockor” (6:04) is about “sea clocks” which must be based on swaying currents and periods of darkness, regular tides and air rushing, irregular light reflecting off of the surface of the water. “Kairos” (5:22) continues the mood, slow and reverent, with the sea the weather is everything. Now we have a window facing the water, imagine that the view is of endless water, forever as far as the sky “Fönster mot vattnet” (6:07).
Imagine that the view is of endless water ::
“Molnminnen” (6:17) brings mostly electronic fog and horn drones with rare birds (sometimes) and there are some tiny sounds that are a bit too close. One day we will have trouble about the discovery of the mines in the moon. “Skogar av tång” (8:24) is calling from the darkness, something is out there. Forests of seaweed sway slowly in the marine depths, with dim light and slow motion, and at great distances. This might not be happening. “Havstrakt III” (8:00) The third version of the composition Sea stretch, I might hear astronauts from the ocean depths call blindly from just beyond the horizon where the territory goes on forever.
Seamlessly the album flows into alternate mixes of these first eight tracks, beginning with “Skärgårdskväde (Moss Covered Technology Remix)” (5:13) a clattering typewriter jam version of the Archipelago Quince episode, which is the first track of this album, and this mix is a minute or so longer than the original. This is my fave.
You might not know that you are returning to the old coastal paths, “Gamla kuststigar (Gallery Six Remix)” (3:02). The original track is close to three minutes longer. The feeling of slowly floating takes on new atmospheric sensations, something big is cracking open slowly nearby. There are probably geese passing by out there too, but I think they might be gone by now. “Gamla kuststigar (Mokhov Remix)” (6:14) once again revisits the old coastal paths, the Mokhov version might take us to the south. I think that the original of this track is just about the same length as this new version. Slowly swaying back and forth, the gradually pulsing sound is coming from somewhere deep underwater. The first track, “Havsklockor” is just about the same length as this remix. I am forever trying to interpret the Purl version of Sea clocks, “Havsklockor (Purl Remix)” (6:28) at about the same length as the first version, the sound creeps in slowly, keeping the slumbering mood while expanding the glow. I think I hear some nocturnal insects in there too. Very dreamy. Next, “Havsklockor (Innesti Remix)” (4:23), the first mix is also less than two minutes longer. Grafting one sea clock idea to another improves the whole sea clock collection. Time slows way down. Perhaps the inhabitants of the spirit world do not otherwise converse audibly.
Sad and slow, melancholic and haunting, “Kairos (awakened souls Remix)” (4:20) releases weather spirits that sing sweetly, the original version is about a minute longer. How can the ladies in this darkness bring such flavors of sorrow for such delectation? “Kairos (Crystalline Reflections Remix)” (5:26), the original version is about the same length, this mix keeps returning to a deeper crystal mirror vision of our slow dreamy weather. Zephyrs that feel warm in this northern climate open “Fönster mot vattnet (Ships On Fire Remix)” (6:24). We see again the window facing the water but now there are ships on fire in the distance, what can we do? The melody is melancholic and far away.
Concluding the album, Sea stretch, perhaps this version is now taking place in the tropics? The third sea stretch “Havstrakt III (Warmth Remix)” (7:13) gives me sustaining sultry mistral thoughts, ghostly passages hidden in the gloom. Havstrakt is a contemplation of cozy northern marine abyssal gloomy brooding comfort.
Snufmumriko might translate as something like snuff mummy. That makes it easier to remember, maybe it is under your bed. Sweet dreams.
Havstrakt is available on Sun Sea Sky. [Bandcamp | Site]
