A world hurtling through golden mist? Since we are dealing with a concept album here, I quote from the press release to clarify the conceptual backdrop: “Rain Steam Speed takes J.M.W. Turner’s 1844 painting as its frame—eleven love songs structured as a single day, from morning to dusk, with birdsong and rain woven in as recorded sound.”
Prolific Danish singer-songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Nils Lassen captures the tension between the old world and the new in cinematic textures that feel both carefully arranged and slightly elusive. Dream pop, darkwave, and indie rock drift into each other, with layered vocals and atmospheric instrumentation.
Unfortunately, the artwork does not grace the cover (likely a copyright issue), as it would have allowed listeners to lose themselves even more deeply in that world, though the music itself takes us a long way toward that state of mind. We float somewhere between melancholy and possibility, looking for hope in the melodies and the lines.
Rain Steam Speed—arranged, performed, and produced by Nils Lassen—is out digitally and on vinyl LP through Aenaos Records. Featuring Nils Lassen (lead vocals, bass, keyboards), Kitty Drue (guitars), Tomas Ortved (drums), Anders Wallin (background vocals, fretless bass), and Marianne van Toornburg (background vocals).
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