The second track from SkarWorX (Øystein Skar’s) forthcoming debut album (sometime around August) for his latest solo project takes him off in quite a different direction from the first.
‘Wisdom’, which we reviewed back in March, together with Øystein’s impressive CV, was identified as potentially a film score that might be appropriate to a futuristic movie.
As for ‘SubClub’ I’m not sure if the clue isn’t in the title. Club sub-culture? Culture in a submarine? Product placement for a miniature sandwich from a well known High Street retailer (other brands are available)?
The supporting short video for it has a toy piano being swallowed up by the sea. I should be able to glean something from that, but I can’t.
While being modern-classical in its composition it has a dance feel about it pretty much from the start. I can imagine it attracting Factory Records in another era and having been dropped on a doped up audience at the Hacienda periodically to make sure they hadn’t expired from heat exhaustion.
There are a couple of things that Øystein Skar does particularly well which are worthy of mention. The first is an ability to introduce numerous and varied sounds into his pieces, like hissing steam engines or a wok cooking up a full Chinese banquet in a manner that is attractive without getting irritating. The other is very clever use of percussion effects.
He even finds the means to add some jazzy, almost honky tonk piano into the mix, from one that he used at Oslo’s Saga Studio which looks like its straight out of a Wild West saloon bar.
Between the two tracks released so far there is no clear sign of where this album is going, one way or the other, and I’ve a feeling the next track will be different again.
But based on this one alone I reckon an alternative career in Ibiza beckons.
SubClub’ was released on streaming networks on 14th May.