Angelica’s Elegy is a band made up of three musicians – Eirik, Simen and Jonas – hailing from Trondheim in Norway. Nothing is known about who Angelica is (or was) or why she might have an elegy. What we do know is, the band released an EP Cognitive Dissonance in 2012 and now has shared with the world its debut album.
Gold Celeste was released March 2013 on Riot Factory. It is an album that shines brightly, sparkles even. The nine-track record is made up of lo-fi indie rock gems, with swirling guitars, clanging cymbals and soaring vocals driving us forward on a voyage of discovery.
The album begins with a theatrical feel on ‘Rewind all Your Footsteps’. This first track starts off with synth-led, almost orchestral arrangements that create a grand sound, slowing halfway through to an almost inaudible heartbeat before building up again gradually. From there, we are invited to reach skywards (‘Starchild’) and ‘sweep over mountain tops’ (‘Fuse and a Spark’), with songs that elicit dreamscapes and childhood memories. Pianos and synths chug along, inducing a slightly psychadelic haze. There is a shiny, happy 60s aesthetic on ‘When You’re Asleep’ although perhaps with a murky underbelly (‘something’s lurking in the deep, to rise when you’re asleep’). Before you know it, the slightly melancholic last track of the album ‘Sixteen feet’ is already upon us. But there’s a twist…it doesn’t end where you think it will, and instead rises to finish up in a six-minute crescendo of sludgey guitars.
There is a golden glow induced by the songs that certainly seems to be captured in the album’s title. I take this as a good sign. The sun will shine and we will all dance around in floaty frocks (at least the girls will) in the summer sunshine. Here’s hoping that Angelica’s Elegy make this a summer to remember: please come and play in our back garden!
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Gold Celeste – Released 1 March 2013:
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