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There's something very Scandinavian about Diefenbach. Not a huge
surprise, you might think, as the quintet hail from Copenhagen, but
their music has that unique blend of melancholy tinged with euphoria that the
North Europeans seem to do so well.
Of course that would lead you to think of Royksopp, but
Diefenbach are more guitar based than the Bergen duo, and rely more on
songwriting and lyrical input, delivered through the voce tones of
Kenneth Sarup. His voice proves key to their overall sound, soft
and mellow yet occasionally lifting into a relatively rich, upper register
sound.
What really raises this album above the ordinary, however, is its
production. Stripped to the bare bones the songs are extremely basic
- not a criticism - but with the added wash of synthesized sound around the
edges they become widescreen delights, easy to lose yourself in. With the
band confessing to a huge interest in films, indeed being named after a
character from Fargo, this is not a huge surprise. Police, an
easily ambling song, takes on the feel of a stroll through a field on a hot
summer's day, lightly pastoral. The uplifting Glorious, meanwhile, has
a wonderfully deep bass sound that throbs almost out of earshot, oblivious to
the contrary lyrics.
The bittersweet words are a curious feature of the band's
songwriting.
Glorious ought to be an ode to wonderful love, but has a funny way of
showing it as it winds up sounding something akin to domestic abuse, as
Sarup sings, "as you smash my teeth in, you define, we were glorious".
Just
as the record threatens to sink into an ambient comfort zone, Favourite
Friend unexpectedly injects a groove into proceedings, the subtle
violence
of Glorious still only just beneath the surface, the song asking "why
we
have to fight".
Diefenbach sound rather less at ease in these higher tempo numbers.
The
Rocket has some evocative keyboard bookends, but becomes disjointed in
the
middle. Far more impressive are the subtle grandeur of songs like It's
Only
Love, or opener Mechanical, a couple of subtle Cure references
in
production yet with a sinister undercurrent.
This is an interesting variant on slow burning guitar music, with
good
quality songs pushed up a notch by mysterious vocals and a mostly
gorgeous,
mellow sound texture, a treat for the home stereo. Buy it and indulge
yourself!
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