[ad_1]
Ninety minutes’ drive north of Oslo and on the shore of Lake Mjøsa lies the city of Hamar, the place six of Meer’s eight members attended the identical highschool.
Seldom does a band make as a lot constructive progress between its first and second albums as Meer. 5 years in the past their eponymous debut confirmed promise however made barely a ripple, leaving guitarist Eivind Strømstad downhearted. “We acquired some constructive suggestions, however the album was lifeless on arrival actually,” he now admits.
Nonetheless Meer persevered, spending 4 years making follow-up Enjoying Home and retaining all their members. Remarkably, since evolving from Ted Glen Prolonged, which was based by Strømstad and vocalist Johanne Kippersund Nesdal in 2008, Meer’s line-up has remained unchanged since 2012.
“We like to think about ourselves as a relaxed ocean with numerous stuff taking place beneath,” Strømstad says of the band’s music. It’s an apt description for Enjoying Home, whose immediacy belies the numerous depth displayed by 11 actually excellent songs, in flip offering an early album of the yr contender.
“It’s very easy to get pleasure from when you’re simply up for simple listening, however very rewarding if you wish to dive deep and take heed to all of the intricacies,” Strømstad continues. As such, Enjoying Home is a long way faraway from Meer’s origins as Ted Glen Prolonged, who centered on performing “jazzy covers” and launched a sole EP (Ted Glen Prolonged EP) again in 2012.
Having morphed into Meer, the band had no set goals stylistically after they embarked upon recording their debut. “We by no means got down to make a prog album however we acquired a response from the prog viewers. I’m a prog head myself, so maybe it was inevitable,” Strømstad explains. “As an adolescent I used to be ridiculously into Ache Of Salvation – it was my faith till my early 20s. I’m additionally a giant fan of Opeth and Devin Townsend.”
The band’s vocalists, Johanne and her youthful brother Knut (a former Norwegian Eurovision Track Contest finalist), are nevertheless extra pop and traditional rock oriented. Johanne additionally fronts Paper Crown, whereas the rhythm part leans in direction of jazz. With a classically skilled keyboard participant who grew up taking part in gospel music, plus a violinist and a viola participant, Meer deploy eclectic skills and influences. “It’s fairly messy typically!” says Strømstad about Meer’s collective writing classes. “But it surely’s nice when it really works.”
In his opinion Enjoying Home is “extra rocky and trendy sounding” than its predecessor. “On the primary album we struggled to seize the vitality we generate at our live shows,” he explains. “We did that higher this time and recorded the rhythm part stay within the studio.”
Satirically, having captured that vitality, Meer are at the moment restricted of their promotion of Enjoying Home. Beforehand the band have carried out principally in Norway, venturing to Sweden and Germany on a few events. “When issues open up we need to play as many locations and for as many individuals as doable!” the guitarist declares.
This text initially appeared in Prog 119.
[ad_2]
Supply hyperlink