The fact that consonant melodies can feel out of place speaks to the success with which Sóley was able to communicate her vision through her aggressive use of unbalanced discord and harmony.
There’s just something about Iceland. I don’t know what’s in the water, but there seem to be a disproportionately higher number of incredibly gifted musicians in Iceland. Whatever it its, I’m certainly glad it’s happening, and don’t want to jinx anything by pointing this out. Sóley is one of these talented creatives who, with Kròmantik, has released a creepy, dead circus into the sonic arena with this piano-only EP. Dissonance is a theme in Kròmantik, and the opener, “Stiklur,” hammers the point home effectively with a descending chromatic scale that conjures a vivid image, like a clown whose painted face oozes and drips its vivid colors to the dusty earth as, unblinking, it stares a hole in your head. The EP is composed of eight tracks, none of which hit the three-minute-mark, though each is able, in its brief life, to paint an intense picture. Some of the images are downright comical, others are awash in darkness and bring chills to the listener, and occasionally open to melodic consonance which almost sounds out of place in the context of the record. The fact that consonant melodies can feel out of place speaks to the success with which Sóley was able to communicate her vision through her aggressive use of unbalanced discord and harmony.
Kròmantik could easily be the soundtrack to a piece of Tim Burton’s work. There’s winter, and night, and bitter cold in it, and it is joined by the colorful cast of dead and broken things that inhabit a world of perpetual night. It is illuminated by the beauty of the stars, though, and it inspires one to look at the beauty that can be found in dark places, where the cold light pierces and casts odd shadows within the darkness. Sòley takes us to her world with Kròmantik, and it’s a place where a guide is absolutely necessary. The EP serves as an intermediary, and an introduction, to a forthcoming album in 2015 which will undoubtedly be as weird, as haunting, and as beautiful as Krómantik.
Krómantik is available on Morr Music.
