With their fifth album, Songs From The Valley Of The Nearly Dead, Norwegian five-piece Licking the Moose once again prove they’ve got Americana running through their veins, but the eleven new songs—crafted, stretched, and twisted until the musicians were far outside their comfort zone—are both darker and more daring.

As the title suggests, this isn’t your average campfire singalong, but a trip through the shadowed corners of the human soul. Expect tales of exorcism, anxiety, lost love, doomsday prophecy, and death, all wrapped in sounds that jump between gospel, rockabilly, hillbilly, crooning, outlaw, Southern rock, and even Western swing.

The lyrics are gloomy but definitely worth singing about (“One last whiskey before the sun’s gonna rise // The last drop of amber, before I roll the dice // One last dance, before the music fades // The last song is always, the Ace of Spades“—from opening track To Kill the Divine), just as important is that the music—amazing interplay and intriguing vocals—is so atmospheric that you can’t help but listen with fascination.

Songs From The Valley Of The Nearly Dead, produced by Dag Erik Johansen, is out streaming and on vinyl LP through LTM Music. Featuring Lasse Karlsen (lead vocals), Fredrik Andersen (guitar), Svein Inge Fjærvik (bass), Frederik Bjørnstad (keys, guitar, background vocals), and Mats André Andersen (drums, percussion).

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