I know we have readers across the world, which is lovely, but I’m pretty sure that most of us are peering out at some freezing cities, towns and villages right now. And Faroese / Danish band Fremmand are the perfect band to compliment that view of desolate, unforgiving landscapes with their own icy gothic perspective on the world.
Given their gothic / post punk influences I’m surprised I haven’t written about them previously, because I do like a bit of abject dark and miserable sounding rock, courtesy of spending early teenage years listening to Sister of Mercy / Fields of the Nephilim type bands - I’m sure I’d have been the only goth in the village, if only I hadn’t discovered Cardiacs first.
Anyway Fremmand have just released their 2nd album, their 1st was a self titled affair released back in 2018. In between they’ve had a couple of interesting singles out, including the particularly powerful ‘Von’, with a chilling video, which aimed to remind us that “nationalism and intolerance can be very poisonous and it’s important not to forget what history has taught us”.
The new release is entitled ‘Wrong’, and the title track opens the album. It doesn’t pull any punches, throwing you right into the gothic deep end certainly, but the drumbeat makes the track almost dance along, and the vocals courtesy of Jana Hjalgrimsdóttir command an authority that will keep you listening. In the background the instrumentals are mischievously eerie and create an intense atmosphere.
Lyrically the track explores “the ambivalent feelings of power and powerlessness a human being may feel when situations in life occur that we think are a matter of choice but are in fact beyond our control.”
The video is particularly effective, as it was filmed in Tokyo at the start of the first Covid lockdown, and the deserted street scenes are a perfect accompaniment to the music. It’s dark, stylish music certainly, and full of character.
Take a look here.
The album is well worth checking out if you like this style of music, and to add to the intrigue contains guest contributions from a myriad of established musicians, including legendary guitarist Carlos Alomar (David Bowie), Richard Fortus (Guns'n'Roses), Peter Hayes (Black Rebel Motorcycle Club) and the Swiss-born New Yorker Null + Void. The band also consist of drummer and producer Tobias Weltzer, guitarist Sigmund Zachariassen and bassist Tinna Tótudóttir.