As you may have noticed we've slightly broadened the coverage this year to include some non Nordic Indie music, and in particular this gives me a chance to feature more from the Post Rock genre, whatever that exactly is.
Dutch based Thistle Sifter at least sound like a Post Rock band, and they're based around the talents of English musician Pete Barnes, who first released music under the name in 2022 with the album 'A Spectral Moon', and his follow up album 'Circles' is released next Friday 26th January. There's an interesting backstory here, as 'Circles' was written by Barnes during convalescence following a serious cycling accident in 2020, which left him with post concussion syndrome - the album becoming 'therapy' during the long recovery period.
The situation was not helped by the pandemic and, of course, Brexit lunacy, but developing the project into a full band for live shows, as well as creating an 'audio visual' spectacle, allowed them to take Thistle Sifter to some festivals, and they have a live Album Launch show at the end of the month on Saturday 27th January 2024 at De Nijverheid in Utrecht. I bet that will be pretty special.
Ahead of the album they've released the single 'In Abundance', an inevitably sprawling track which will draw you in under a hypnotic spell, with dark gothic guitars providing the main musical theme. I sometimes refer to the shades of darkness and light that post rock artists are able to portray, in this track there's less light, just subtle differences between different shades of grey.
I wrote that attempted description before I saw the video, and for once maybe I'm not too far off the mark. Dutch artist Thomas van Gaalen has produced the video, which attempts to capture the long drawn out recuperation journey, using old footage with a camera moving forward "in an attempt to free itself from what lies behind, and drawn further and further by an intense and mysterious door-shaped light."
Very powerful, and also really interesting video too. I look forward to listening to the album, and I know we have Dutch readers, so if you're in Utrecht please go to the concert.