Finnish multi-instrumentalist and all-round musical magus Marko Nyberg leads the charge. His delicate, country-folksy yet sampledelically-informed music is surely the work of an artist touched by the chilly majesty of his homeland, and much more besides. He speaks of his influences as being ‘the magical moment’ and mood in movies. David Lynch, Lars von Trier. Wim Wenders, Lukas Moodysson, Russ Meyer, Scandinavian architecture, Erik Satie, the airy lushness of French impressionism and Philip Glass. The sound of Arvo Part, warm and honest country music and a lot of other things in pop culture (such as) graphic design and photography. Unlike many artists who cite such wide-ranging influences, you really can detect them in Nyberg’s music. Each song is a self-contained mini-movie aiming for its own unique emotional impact. Take ‘New Light Of Tomorrow’, a slow burning Floyd-ian epic, a hushed meditation on hope and doubt. Both intimate and immense, this is the stuff of heartbreak, a happy-sad reverie. Or ‘City Lights’, an effortlessly beautiful travelogue through deserted neon-lit streets, featuring a restrained-yet-affecting female vocal, yearning pedal steel and twinkling shards of electronica. ‘Sweet Little Kitten’ is well named. It’s warm, delicate and adorable. Around the time of ‘Pet Sounds’ Brian Wilson declared his ambition to make music which loves the listener back. This is something which Husky Rescue are also clearly capable of - this song curls around the listener in a warm, comforting embrace. As Marko puts it, “I'll try to create music that gives you feeling that somebody’s holding you in their arms. And some contrast for that. There always has to be contrast.” And there is plenty of contrast in the Husky soundworld. ‘Gasoline Girl’ begins as a laidback, bluesy daydream before breaking out into an expansive psychedelic landscape while ‘Rainbow Flows’ kicks off with a truly awesome cinematic flourish before settling into an understated lo-fi groove, revealing a frivolous, dizzy dimension of Nyberg’s sound - a Husky tongue lolling around weather-beaten chops, you might say. Forthcoming single 'Summertime Cowboy' is Husky Rescue's first full single release, following their highly acclaimed and much sought after 10" EPs ('Sleep Tight Tiger', 'New Light Of Tomorrow' and 'City Lights'). A highlight of their live set, this is Husky Rescue showing that there is a real vein of funk beneath the warm melodies and glacial atmospheres that make up their sound. When asked to describe their work, Nyberg’s metaphors are unusual but entirely appropriate: David Lynch meets the night-less night in Lapland, he suggests, or perhaps Bambi meets big bad wolf and they become friends. If you can read that and not be intrigued, you are an iceberg, my friend. Tracklist 1. Sweet Little Kitten 2. Summertime Cowboy 3. New Light Of Tomorrow 4. Sunset Drive 5. My World 6. City Lights 7. Gasoline Girl 8. Rainbow Flows 9. Sleep Tight Tiger 10. Mean Street 11. The Good Man 12. The Man Who Flew Away |