We often have a chance to witness surprises at the most unusual places. The core of this surprise is an artist Ewian Christensen, a Latvia-born musician who has been living in Germany for year, and his companion Benjamin Lachance.They have started creating music at the beginning of 2013, and little by little, after few singles and EP, they released their 2014 debut titled Good Old Underground.
The debut saw many guest appearances whose character is almost the opposite to Ewian’s. Let me put it like this: Imagine If mid-90s Radiohead, 2000 Muse, post-rock Mogwai and Sigur Ros in their most optimistic moments had a baby. Then imagine If Moby and Wayne Coyne were godfathers of that baby. Well, that is how Good Old Underground sounds like.
A huge wall of sound with characteristic Radiohead shtick and frequent Muse sections are the stones of every melody. Post-rock guitars are close to the main role. Everything sounds both dark and optimistic at the same time, which is why the album has an intriguing nerve from the very first track. If they were in UK, everyone would praise them for that sound as the band has combined everything that British people adore.
Ewian is an alternative band who connected their music with commercial part without any compromises, so they could be played on the radio, but also please the alternative audience. The first single Escape is an epic piano ballade that I have been expecting from Muse for years, but I doubt I will ever get it. What’s interesting about the song is that choruses are enriched in non-vocal segments, bursting from post-rock sections congruent with the structure of the whole record. Escape was probably one of my favorites tunes back in 2014.
The opening track My Dear Dead Memory shows in which direction the record is going to go, both musically and lyrically. The song title suggests that Ewian wants to investigate many introspective issues, and he does it in an original manner. Long story short: the music and the lyrics are congruent, and that compatibility makes this a strong album.
The title tracks recalls the spirit of Echo & The Bunnymen, while The Last Poem is pure Radiohead number, a priori to their experimental phases. Black Star is marvelous, and Zampano sounds like Lanegal produced by Moby. We Are Not Afraid To Die brings association to The Flaming Lips, and New Born is the most optimistic track on the record.
The complexity is evident. This is the music that can make you happy. Even though we have heard many bands desperately trying to copy Radiohead, Ewian filtered their main influence through many layers.
