Label: Aguirre Records

Enhet For Fri Musik周辺好きに激推し!!先頃別プロジェクトKOUとして1stアルバムをリリースしたApolline Schoserが、2017年頃にNocola Henryと共に始動したフリーフォームなデュオユニットNina Harker。3年振りに発表された待望の2ndアルバムを入荷。KOUの1stと同様に6つのローロッパレーベルが共同制作した作品で、現行のスウェーデン勢に通じるオブスキュアでシュルレアリスティックな実験フォークを主とする内容。美しい旋律と様々な形態で出現するラフな音像がのバランスが非常に上手い全10曲。素朴なダイカットスリーヴ仕様のジャケットも良い。









Freeform, pigeon-hole dodging, stylistic merry-go-round, restless, weird and addictive - the long anticipated return of Nina Harker!

Three years in the works since their self-titled 2020 debut, we’re just about ready. Similar in vein to its polyglot predecessor, we’re deep into an extremely skewed trip to the unknown. The duo’s chameleon-like musical world never misses an opportunity to shred it’s skin and reappear as something totally unexpected. Apolline’s beautifully exposed, day-dreaming vocals on opener ‘Le Pont à Voiles’ cut deep, setting up a false sense of security before things take a dive into the underneath - stuttering synths and garbled vocals brace an eerie up-right piano solo and agitated spoken / electronics piece. The sheer lack of cohesion and total disregard for an attempt at *flow* adds a tangible sense of surrealism. But it’s no amateurish prank or way of disguising technical flaws - it’s clear these musicians can play, and there’s a strong feeling of intent.

The folkier moments, when they do decide to glisten through the gunk, are captivating and otherworldly, whereas the indifferent vocals and brittle drum machine tilt of ‘Hin Und Her’ or quivering electronics of ‘ë’ could easily be misplaced for an 80’s tape piece from Vox Populi!. Add in a drop of the unhinged weirdness of early Beate Bartel / CHBB, or scratchy Siltbreeze almost-songs and the collage-aesthetic of Enhet För Fri Musik and it’s clear we have something special in our hands. In an age of unashamed pastiche, it’s so nice, almost REFRESHING, to be properly tangled up in something so genuinely other and intoxicating.