Pick of the month for August, 2007.

It’s pretty common knowledge in the music world that the average listener has little attention span, and thus labels frequently fill the beginning of CDs with the ‘best’ songs. Figuring that an artist might have somewhere in the neighborhood of 15-30 seconds to really grab a listener, it’s no wonder that music has evolved in a way where smaller, faster, and louder is better — our inattentiveness to detail and lack of patience has paved the way for the dismal situation that we find ourselves. Generic, formulaic music thrives in this environment because it is familiar and well suited to listener’s preexisting tastes, whereas truly creative efforts mostly fall on deaf ears, either far ahead of their time or too off the beaten path to draw in interest.

Post-rock, in its most pure inception, was a resistance to this development in what many of its artists considered an art form and not simply a form of entertainment. Although many other genres outwardly proclaimed to be in opposition to mass marketed media products, when push came to shove, there really wasn’t much of an audible difference between musicians in one camp or the other, but merely a difference in ethos. This is where post-rock was different — that there were striking physical differences in the way post-rock musicians crafted songs, specifically in a much more classical manner, in contrast with the folk oriented roots of ‘rock’ music.

And with it came the grand, sweeping, orchestral sounds that marks some of the more popular classical pieces, those which are most familiar when you think of names like Beethoven, Mozart, or Bach. Over time, post-rock became more and more tied to the concept of epic composition, particularly the slow, brooding type with the large climax, and oftentimes alluded to apocalyptic themes. Vagueness is essential in personal interpretation, but these artists came to pride themselves on the mastery of emotions and strict control of catharsis, inevitably snowballing into a subgenre that many would (falsely) identify with the whole.

Thus, the epic closer came into existence, the closing track which would shake the foundations of the album and leave the listener awestruck and desiring more. It’s a rather simple concept, regardless of what happens on each individual track, the album as a whole will have an upward slant, cumulating with the epic closer. If executed correctly, it can have a profound effect, and indeed several of the more notable releases in the post-rock realm have delivered heart stopping performances with this overall schema. It became so effective that the epic closer generally became known as the key track in an album’s creation, with the others transporting the listener along until the opportune moment.

Referring back to Music 101, the average listener doesn’t care about much after the first track or two if he’s not drawn in to the artist’s vision, so logically the epic closer should be placed in the front of the album to maximize potential sales. Showcase your stuff early, hook the listener, and don’t let go. Surprisingly, not many bands have tried this approach; there’s something utterly daunting about placing a 10+ minute track at the beginning of an album which often deters them from doing so — not many listeners have the stomach for such an introduction, or so we think. Sweden’s immanu el is the latest to attempt the undertaking of drawing in the audience with the early epic closer, but can they avoid the pitfalls that similarly zealous bands have come across?

Pound for pound, opener “Under Your Wings I’ll Hide” is one of the strongest tracks of the year. It is graceful, confident, and powerful without being overly sentimental or cocksure. It’s a delicate balance of instruments and vocals which will resonant throughout the disc’s whole and draw us in until the epic finale, and this complement of styles really intrigues us and forces us to listen to the rest of the album. Claes Strängberg‘s vocals are utilized as an atmospheric component, neither providing any real melodic or lyrical purpose, but instead blending into the musical soundscape like another instrument. In this respect, the vocals occupy a similar space as those used by Gregor Samsa, which are neither overreaching nor needlessly assertive. This is an apt comparison, as much of They’ll Come, They Come seems to abide by Gregor Samsa’s motto of “Slow and sad. Slow and happy. But never fast and anything.” As the track begins to build to the climax, the drums quicken and the guitars begin to dance their twinkly dance; experienced ears know they’re in for a good finale. And it is grand, with vocals pushing it just that much more over the top. Overall, a piece performed to perfection.

For the rest of the album immanu el has to live up to the high precedent set with “Under Your Wings I’ll Hide,” which is precisely why most bands avoid using these sorts of tracks as an opener in the first place. The trick to They’ll Come, They Come is that immanu el forgets that the first track ever happened. There’s no hidden anxiety in the following tracks as they fail to live up to the band’s expectations, because they’re simply content to exist on their own terms. “Home” would make a fantastic album opener, but wedged in as the second track, it now functions as a segue to the somber “White Seraphs Wild.” immanu el takes the opportunity to mix it up a bit, introducing a piano to the mix and employing more contrasting dynamics than it sought to unearth in “Under Your Wings…” As a result, the track doesn’t need to be as long, as it satisfies its goal much sooner, and immanu el wisely brings this to a close in under seven minutes. From here, “Astral Days” acts as a reprise to the opener, before we get into some new territory all together.

“Panda” is lifted from the band’s Killerwhale EP, and has been slightly reworked and rerecorded. The main difference is that the newer version is much more minimal than its predecessor. The heavy Sigur Ros-esque atmosphere that dominated the first four tracks has been reduced to a light fog, and we can see the different pieces of the band really working behind the scenes. The unwieldy climax found on  the Killerwhale version is replaced with a smooth fade that features a trumpet, a very tasteful addition. Ideally, this is a great opportunity for the band to take a new route in the CD. Instead of ending it in the traditional fireworks show, here is a chance to slide into the minimal/classical mode and really provide something new for our ears to digest. And it’s almost pulled off. Almost.

“Kosmonaut” is the album’s low point, precisely because the placid vocals found on the rest of the album start to overstep their boundary and some honest to goodness singing is attempted. The track is also one of the rowdier on the disc, which doesn’t match up that well with the subtlety expressed in “Panda”‘s composition. Combined with the audio sample, which undermines the rich organic component expressed up until now, “Kosmonaut” is the first misstep from the band.

“I Know You so Well…” picks up the thread where “Panda” left off, presenting a simple three and a half minute piece of guitar melodies and soft ambience. It’s really just an introduction to “…in valleys,” which is the aforementioned fireworks show, this time at a concise five and a half minutes. There’s a sense that the album couldn’t have ended any other way; once the band committed themselves to build and release techniques in “Under Your Wings I’ll Hide,” any large deviation from this would undoubtedly turn many off by being ‘unsatisfying’. But, I claim there was a different route to conclude the CD, that which was seen in “Panda” and “I Know You so Well…” — the more refined, composed band who’s no longer infatuated with huge soundscapes and resolutions. Instead, we saw glimpses of a band interested in exploring the minutiae, breaking their art down into its foundations and working in minimalist modes, but inevitably relied on what was familiar to them. Additionally, this alternative route would provide an overarching history of the piece with the epic closer as the opener and slowly peeling away the layers until it got down to the most essential components, demonstrating a progression in the band’s sound in the most literal way possible.

Regardless of this small criticism, the album as a whole is quite enjoyable. They’ll Come, They Come joins the strong ranks of Swedish contemporaries, who have already seen a strong year with new releases form the likes of Logh, Scraps of Tape, and Aerial. There’s certainly much greater things in store for immanu el, as it begins to play with its large amount of potential and deliver the masterpiece lurking just below the surface of this release. Still, this remains a triumphant debut.

–Jordan Volz

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