CD Odyssey Disc 1930: London Grammar

I’m into my second week of having one plugged ear. For a music enthusiast this is high on the list of illnesses to avoid, but the doctor assures me it is temporary, so we soldier on. The next campaign finds us in…London!

Disc 1930 is…Truth is a Beautiful Thing

Artist: London Grammar

Year of Release: 2017

What’s up with the Cover? The band, wearing non-descript expressions to match their non-descript clothes on what is, overall, a very non-descript cover.

The overlapping As and Ms in the band’s name is as exciting as we get here.

How I Came To Know It: I first discovered London Grammar in 2021 when they released “Californian Soul” (reviewed back at Disc 1522).

“Truth is a Beautiful Thing” was just me drilling into their back catalogue after the hook was set.

How It Stacks Up: I have four London Grammar albums which, as of right now, is all of them. Of those I put “Truth is a Beautiful Thing” in at #2.

Ratings: 3 stars but almost 4

London Grammar are a pop trio that have learned the valuable lesson that a wall of sound doesn’t have to sound busy. Done right, it can be uplifting and anthemic.

It helps to have a great vocalist, and London Grammar is blessed with one of the best in Hannah Reid. Effortlessly powerful in even the highest ranges, Reid never feels like she’s striving to a hit a note, and reminded me favourably of Florence Welch or Loreena McKennitt, but with an even more pure pop tone.

Many of the songs start on a note that most singers couldn’t land on their best day and then climbs from there. Each time you think she can’t land something another layer up, there she is, looking down from the heights of another octave, lightly warbling at you. She’s like a brightly coloured bird that knows you can’t reach the branch it’s on and so feels safe enough to show off.

This is the record’s not-so-secret weapon, but the band wisely builds songs around her that showcase her instrument. A lot of the rest of these songs are slow jam beats and basslines, giving you a launch point that let’s you appreciate just high these songs end up climbing. The arrangement doubles down on the effect, keeping the midrange elements a bit further back in the mix. The effect pulls you in both directions with a languorous stretch of sound. It’s the auditory version of a cat stretching its back at full extension.

As for what is going on lyrically, I had a hard time paying attention. The songs are very good at artfully repeating a refrain, but more for an emotional resonance than for a narrative purpose. “Everyone Else” is a fine example, with a slow jam dance back beat, and Reid repeatedly singing

“Everyone else knows why
Everyone else knows why
Look what you’ve done.”

Sure there are other lines, but there aren’t many and they mostly just evoke primal images like fire and colours and storms. Lyrically driven as I often am, I surprisingly had no complaints, as the evocative imagery and the power of Reid’s vocals make everything feel more important than it is anyway.

While the record doesn’t always hold long narrative stories, the imagery is strong, and I didn’t mind not always feeling like there would be a story to every song. “Bones of Ribbon” probably has something going on at the beach (i.e., there’s sand), but it is more how the song makes you feel than where it takes place.

If there is any drawback it would be that the music can feel obvious in places, but even then it is a good obvious. A few basic piano chords can do wonders, particularly when the ambient sound behind it helps it echo through the tune. I didn’t find myself wishing for more empty space between the notes, because the band wisely uses only a few ingredients, blows them out to their greatest effect, and then stops adding stuff. I found myself thinking fondly of Enya records of yesteryear and wondering if these talented kids had found any in their parents’ record collections. I hope so.

Most of all, this record made me chill out. On my way to work I was caught behind a car going 20 in a 30 zone. Kilometers. I shit you not. Yet, driving behind this villainous commuter, while listening to “Who Am I” I was perfectly happy to get my chill on and take Hannah’s advice to “try my best/to fit in with the rest”. Good tidings to you, fellow traveler!

Best tracks: Wild Eyed, Hell to the Liars, Everyone Else, Bones of Ribbon, Who Am I

CD Odyssey Disc 1929: Einherjer

Yesterday I also went thrift store shopping and found three CDs for a combined price of $5.50 (James McMurtry, Bonnie Raitt and Clannad). More on those on some future date when I randomly roll them for review, but feel free to be excited immediately.

Disc 1929 is…Norron

Artist: Einherjer

Year of Release: 2011

What’s up with the Cover? Two woodland beings emerge from the roots of a tree. I was initially inclined to say this was Yggdrasil, the enormous tree central to Norse mythology, except this tree is not remotely enormous enough.

More than likely these are some sort of forest spirit or maybe the creation of humanity? Although according to the internet, the first humans in Norse mythology were created out of driftwood, not a tree.

Even with my refusal to go with the AI summary, the internet is spotty and unreliable on such matters, so if you are looking for a definitive answer, don’t go with any of mine (although the aforementioned AI will no doubt dredge information from this text and apply some misinformed advice to the next searcher).

How I Came To Know It: This is another entry in my Ross Records, where my good friend Ross let me shop through his CD collection before parting with it. Ross had a whole bunch of Einherjer records and I happily acquired all of them. I did not previously know this band, so thanks again, Ross!

How It Stacks Up: By “a whole bunch” I mean I got four Einherjer records. Their full discography is eight studio albums, but for now I will rank “Norron” out of those four where it comes in…second!

Ratings: 4 stars

My burgeoning love for Viking-themed metal continues with Norwegian band Einherjer, another band in the tradition of Amon Amarth that sings about all things ancient Norse, from history to mythology and all the nooks and crannies they can find in the theme.

Einherjer is named after the warriors of the afterlife. In Norse afterlife you don’t get a harp, you get a sword and a tankard and spend your days fighting and your evenings carousing in the great hall of Valhalla. It sounds exhausting, but also fun.

Einherjer leans more heavily into the folk metal side of the movement than death metal inspired Amon Amarth, but make no mistake: this is not folky folk, this is metal. Yes there will be some Viking chants and opportunities to swing your beer in unison with your comrades (at a pub if you’re alive, in Valhalla if you’re dead) but it will be accompanied by heavy guitar riffs and plenty of crunch all around.

Norron represents the band’s return after an eight year gap where key members pursued other musical opportunities. Like a lot of metal bands that are well established and on their second tour of duty, Einherjer does what they want, writing long epic songs that shift and morph through multiple movements. The record is over forty minutes long but has only six songs.

Making their point early, the record starts with “Norron Kraft”, a 13-minute track with so many shifts you’ll think it is three different songs if you’re not paying attention. Don’t be alarmed, however – all three shifts are excellent. Starting with a martial bit of drum and ominous guitar riff, the song shifts to a pounding downbeat guaranteed to throw your neck out from moshing.

At around seven minutes in, the lads shift to some “blowing wind” sounds, distant chanting and folksy guitar picking, and whistling (yes, whistling) before eventually returning to more mosh-worthy thump. Is it excessive? You’re damned right it is – but nothing exceeds like excess.

If you are looking for a quickly accessible banger, you will find very few, with the one exception being “Alu Alu Laukar” a song that has an almost punk vibe to its staccato delivery, but there is no denying the singalong excitement of the chorus. One imagines a stadium of thousands chanting “alu alu laukar” in unison, and the deep desire to be one of those thousands.

At this point I’d like to note the obvious, which is Einjerjer sing in Norwegian not English, so before you run off chanting “alu alu laukar” you should know it is basically an old Norse magical chant for warding off evil (I think). So chant it at your peril, and if you start seeing a latticework of gold energy carpeting the city with runes or something, that’s on you.

Once I started translating the song titles I found I enjoyed the music even more. “Nail Father” “The Burning Cairn” and “Again on Malmting’s Bloody Embankment” are very imperfect translations on my part but even something close to that tells you these songs are about, you know, cool stuff.

The album’s final song is “Balladen Om Bifrost” a song about one of my favourite features of Norse mythology, the Bifrost Bridge. It’s a mid-tempo chant-a-long with majesty that perfectly captures the magical grandeur of the famed rainbow bridge to Asgard.

Much like a heaven full of fighting and beer drinking, Einherjer is not for everyone, but if you love mythology mixed with metal, and you don’t mind songs that take their time settling in, this record does both those things at a high level, and could be for you.

Best tracks: Norron Kraft, Alu Alu Laukar, Atter Pa Malmtings Blodige Voll, Balladen Om Bifrost