Short Reviews [Knekklectric - 2022 - "Alt Blir Verre"]

I was a little non-plussed when I realised this was a new album, as having played it and glanced at the artwork I was convinced it was a reissue from the Seventies, but what we have here is the third album from Norwegian act Knekklectric. Four years after ‘For Mange Melodia’ they have returned with an album where the title translates to ‘Everything Gets Worse’. Their lyrics are all in the Alesund dialect, so for those who don’t understand the language (which will be most of us) the lyrical niceties (which apparently are somewhat darker than previously) will pass us by, but when the music is as good as this that is not an issue. The band are a quintet comprising Johannes Drablos Maaseide (vocals, guitar), Edvard Brother (guitars, vocals), Hogne Aarflot (keyboards), Erlend Alm Lerstad (bass), Jon Bolstad (drums, vibraphone) while they also credit producer Iver Sandoy with percussion on many tracks. In some way this is a dense album with a great deal going on within the arrangements and multiple layerings of keyboards and there is a very strong classic vibe, caused not only by the use of keyboard sounds which one associates with the Seventies but also the feeling that we are in a time when a musician can do whatever they wish and not be pigeonholed into one particular area or another. They remind me most of Gentle Giant, while somehow not really sounding like them at all, as it is more to do with the way they bring pop sensibilities into music which is overtly complex and complicated while also maintaining a freshness. The heavy use of acoustic guitar has much to do with this, but there is driving drums which are quite frenetic and at odds, while the use of vibraphone also brings in elements of classic Family. This is a thoroughly enjoyable album, and all credit to them for doing what they want and going where the muse takes them. That they have done this in a language not understood by many is even more admirable.