Review Summary: a short glimpse of human nature, flawed as we are
iris — love and other disasters
One of the most prominent aspects of any type of music, and of the impact it manages to impress onto the listener, especially on first time experience, is certainly the gradient that reaches from the entirely familiar and predictable to the complete novum lacking structure discernible to humans. Occupying a balanced spot on this gradient is only one of many factors that can designate good music; and while some objective statements can be made, for example: Something inching towards the territory of the unknown will take more times to empty itself of this sensation of novelty, there still is a large subjective element at play.
Years of musical analysis will strip some of the imminent joy of at least a subsection of popular music; with patterns, too predictable, structures, bare-boned and boiled down taking some of the sensation away. The nuance was misunderstood by me when I first encountered this problem: That doesn’t, in any way, mean that pop music in general is bad- in fact, when judging by the rigid standard of Utilitarianism, especially the tight-knit formation of the modern music industry has appreciation due, simply for the exactness of execution.
There are many more perspectives necessary to try to gauge an artwork, and while there was and is no way for me to directly produce quantitative answers to that task, the subjective statement: This large subsection of music has a strong tendency to bore me, is easily able to coexist with the multilayeredness of music. That said, there are instances of surprise and enchantment- recently, I was again able to fortuitously experience many of them in a row. The culprit: Love and other disasters by the rather unknown Norwegian artist iris.
In an exquisite and curt way she reminds me that the perfect iteration of a structure can easily be overshadowed by the beauty of experimenting with it, and that human innovation makes itself known always, no matter the boundaries.
The first seconds of the ethereal opener ‘push, don’t push’ already showcase one of iris’ most coherent stylistic features: Prominent vocal editing. The endless layering of her soft voice and subsequent harmonisation achieves a lot of the atmosphere and suspense permeating the album, seeming to me reminiscent of the classic Imogen Heap style (or at least the more recognisable vocal elements that have stuck with me ever since first listening to hide and seek).
The tension of this excellent opener is then broken by the pure synth-joy that is ‘ROBOTLOVER’, enhancing the already enveloping soundscape with lush strings and more ear-catching harmonisation.
All quiets down as the song fizzles out into a soft, guitar-prominent interlude- and just before strength fades too far, ‘voodoo voodoo’ catches you off guard as the first truly self-contained energetic song that definitely enforces a shift in vibe.
And well on our way we are, the tone is set, the soundscape and atmosphere established.
All in all, this album is a superb reflection on the multi-facetedness of love. As a collection of songs, it’s quite the achievement; as a true album, it has its shortcomings. In the second half, the momentum stalls, and a few less exceptional, more generic tracks find their way into the experience. The interludes, at first welcome, take too large a spot in the spotlight later on and encourage the listener to skip, an urge that for me was entirely absent in the first half.
The drums are also generally a bit lacklustre; quite standard, straight backdrops that only fulfil exactly that purpose. Especially in sparse arrangements rich in vocal texture, this seems like a bit of a missed opportunity- definitely something I hope iris will expand on in further releases.
Love and other disasters is in no way a perfect album, but a very promising effort from an up and coming artist straddling the fine line between commercial availability and experimentation.
Recommended tracks
push, don’t push
ROBOTLOVER
voodoo voodoo
lovemark (I & II)
the end of the world
