Delicate soundscapes
The opening two tracks on Swedish five piece Ef’s third full length album (‘Escapade # 1’ and ‘Sons Of Ghosts’)are incredibly uplifting, marking this record out straight away from many melancholy post-rock epics and the fact that it was recorded live brings an extra dimension to the already expansive sound . The tunes are so delicate and intricate that they make your heart swell and ache; ‘Sons of Ghosts’ brings in dreamy vocals at just over half way adding an extra layer of sweetness before breaking into an anthemic blast of brass and strings. What a great way to start.
The album continues to pack emotion into each track, the sound is very cinematic at times making you think of an as yet unmade road movie with landscapes stretching off to the horizon; ‘K��"141 KYPCK’ is again very dreamy and floats around you like silk until the final few moments when percussion and guitar punch through the veil to make you nod your head to the insistent beat. Vocals come in to play again on ‘Longing for Colors’; sweet and gentle duel girl/boy voices, the male vocal is reminiscent of the whisperings of (dream-pop artist) Maximilian Hecker. This track also has a really solid melody, deftly played riffs and it swells beautifully more than once in louder sections that leave you swaying and tingling all over. Twelve minute closer, ‘Alp Lugens, And Beyond’ starts slowly and quietly with a single guitar being picked and gradually brings in more and more layers of sound; the crystal clear guitar sound echoes wonderfully, and you get lulled into a warm place before having your head blown off in the loud section that follows.
The album as a whole is exhilarating and beautiful, the way that these tunes are uplifting rather than melancholic is such a breath of fresh air, you feel that the classic post-rock formula has been given a make-over; Ef inject light and airy melodies and delicate, intricate sections through rushes of guitar and percussion noise so you never feel weighed down by the emotion of it all.