Kemialliset Ystavat - Alkuharka
(Fonal)
If you’ve been paying attention to the world of underground psychedelic folk music lately, it would have been difficult to miss a mention of Kemialliset Ystävät (roughly translated to the English as “chemical friends”). Led by the enigmatic Jan Anderzén, Kemialliset Ystävät has been labeled variously as magical, mystical, and transcendent. These descriptions are certainly apt to describe this set of “friends”, but focusing on this aspect of their work can cause a listener to miss an essential dimension of the band’s sound. Because for all of its celebratory and sometimes ethereal nature, Kemialliset Ystävät’s music on their latest release Alkuhärkä is incredibly grounded.
One might expect this type of earthiness to be reflected in the production, where sounds were dragged through the mud and bled into each other in a lo-fi orgy of deconstruction. However, nothing could be further from the results achieved. The sonic sheen applied to Alkuhärkä accentuates its charms allowing each instrument’s contribution to be heard with admirable clarity and only occasionally resorts to tape hissing obfuscation (“Nukkesaari”). This type of production only works when all the musicians’ command of their instruments is flawless, and the “friends” do not disappoint.
In addition to being extremely adept players, Anderzén and his band are fluent songwriters (“Antihistamiinimatkaaja” with its fluid arrangement of wheezing bagpipes supported by maracas and infinitely tuneful guitar is as catchy as any song in their catalog) but steadfastly refuse to be limited by traditional form. A track on Alkuhärkä is just as likely to be composed of partial fragments stitched together consecutively (as in “Hirvikärpästen Hovissa” and “Kyyn Sisuksissa”) as it is to be comprised of overlapped multiple melodies caressing each other (as in “Kiimaniityn Kutsu” and “Kyyn Sisuksissa”). Even the cut-up spliced loops of the second half of “Hirvikärpästen Hovissa” have a loping hypnotizing logic to them and tracks that seem like a focused attempt to irritate with experimentation (“Sata Salamaa Iskee Tulta Ja Koko Elämä Räjähtää”) cannot escape the gravitational pull of the swaying lyricism of the collective clockwork mind. The sequencing of the disc allows all of these techniques to interact even outside the boundaries of the songs. Tracks often overlap each other in transition allowing an occasionally non-intuitive but ultimately satisfying display of musical kinship.
All of the tracks have something to offer the listener on the surface and many repay repeated listens. Take for example the delicate lattice of hand drums that is slowly overpowered by a serpentine guitar and flute in the understated “Kuu Kostaa”.
Other notables include the already mentioned “Gelsomiinan Naama” where through a steadily insistent bass riff a circle of pixies dance around, their voices shooting out of the swirling center like galactic tentacles. In “Savuava Harmonia”, a gentle breeze tickles chimes while flutes and voices sing in chorus with its irregular rhythms. These are autumnal sounds and one can almost see the trees shedding their leaves to the music before it all segues into a spacey harmonium coda.
The title track itself is a masterpiece in miniature. Elliptical melodies revolve around a core of softly chanting voices. Here one can feel both pulse and breath of music that is inextricably tied to the body. It is both elemental and organic in its lurching repetition; a great bellows exhaling the breath of life. The ultimate strength of the life force is felt again in “Kamelin Hikeä”, which begins as a slow dirge but a wistfully energetic distorted organ melody rescues it from excessive moroseness with its increasing ferocity.
Given their restless penchant for expanding the boundaries of their already rich musical world, it is unlikely that anyone knows what the future holds for Kemialliset Ystävät. But wherever travel next, they have left Alkuhärkä here to remind us all of the beauty and strength we all carry with us through this life.
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