Welcome to a new world.
Every now and then, an artist comes along that takes you by surprise and completely pulls the rug from underneath you. I'm pleased to say that Husky Rescue have done just that. Must be something about colder climes as these Finnish beats remind me of nothing else I've heard bar perhaps the genius that is Bjork.
It was my dad that fueled my love of music. His tales of spending his hard earned pocket money on 12" vinyls. Upon visiting the music store, more often than not, the sole influence upon which he'd chose his album, would be the cover. How else would he have discovered the likes of "Tonto's Expanding Headband" and other greats that have faded into obscurity?
When "Country Falls" turned up on my doorstep, it was the packaging that first caught my eye. Surrounded by an explosion of colour, the artwork is some of the coolest I've seen. A kind of hybrid of graffiti style street-art and hideous 60s wallpaper designs. Fantastic! You notice the attention to detail and listening to the album, realise that it is a common theme.
Some music evolves without any pre-planning, just an innate sense of feeling right. I have to say, I like that kind of organic development in a song. However, here is something at the opposite end of the spectrum. Every nano-second of sound on this album has been pre-ordained. Imagine each one being organised, then delicately positioned with an expert ear.
Melody is key here; the melody of the flute and other prominent instrumentation which serves to reinforce the silky dreamlike vocals. If the sleeve artwork looked trippy, then listening to this album is akin to being submerged in a vat of LSD.
Not knowing much about Husky Rescue, other than the fact that they're Finnish and that Marko Nyberg seems to be the driving force behind the outfit, this air of mystery really lends itself to the music. As the band seems to come from nowhere, so to do the mystical dreamscapes. Every track is a new world that in about 3 minutes is whipped out of nothing and envelopes you. Nyberg said that "I'll try to create music that gives you feeling [sic] that somebody's holding you in their arms". In my humble opinion, he's achieved exactly what he set out to do.
From the homage to country from single "Summertime Cowboy" to the beautiful vocal harmonies of 60's prog. rock style "New Light of Tomorrow", every track on this album oozes sophistication and is a bite-sized masterpiece. Each one a world and soundscape that not only exists in its own right, but also blends into the universe that is "Country Falls" effortlessly. From the choice of sleeve art, to the execution of every last programmed beat. Everything here has been purposefully selected for maximum impact, and my God it's effective!