I vaguely remember an old Charlie Chaplin film where there’s a scene with him being chased by a policeman into a circus tent, all accompanied by quirky chase music, and Swedish instrumental folk outfit Johannas Kabaréorkester have a similar theme with their new track ‘På flykt från lagens tarva arm’, which of course translates to ‘On the run from the greedy law’.
It’s the second of their releases, and actually I liked the 1st too, which was entitled ‘Bakgården’, and and accompanied by a surreal but enjoyable video which I’ve slipped at the end of the feature.
Anyway they promise journey’s “beyond country roads and meadows, over water and through the deep forests, far beyond the city lights and noise… a world in which the innocent sinners are hunted, and the guilty are free to roam”. Sounds like my type of place.
The central figures in their stories are Johanna and her friends, and unlike Chaplin who was chased into the circus, in this track she is escaping from one, and the music cleverly creates exactly that vision. The band say were inspired by ‘the chases we see in cartoons, the repeating background and the running characters. The run, hide and seek feel.’
It’s matches those ideas exactly and it results in entertaining instrumental music, which seems to take influences from music across the world - in this track it could be used in an Inspector Clouseau film to accompany his hapless exploits. For sure the compositions are very much based around ‘a theme’ and I was a little concerned based on the first track there wouldn’t be too much variety, but clearly they’ve got a whole series of scenes worked out in their minds, and I'm guessing they'll all be really cleverly conceived.
I’ve never been chased by a policeman, but if it were to happen I would definitely pre-plan a series of crimes and hire Johannas Kabaréorkester to play live to accompany the spree.
This is ’På flykt från lagens tarva arm’.
And here's the video I mentioned to 'Bakgården'.