Fredrik-Trilogi [7.1]

Rating: 7.1

Blending genres doesn't always prove successful. Ambitious, yes. But crossing over various styles is more than just a guessing game in the studio, or else all you'd be left with is a mess of noise and failed expectations.

Fredrik, a two-piece from Sweden, keep an open mind on Trilogi, and are fully conscious of both their capabilities and their boundaries when it comes to unifying earthy tones, classical music, and indie rock using the super-glue of electronics.

This album, their second, can probably be best described as haunting, ambient progressive rock, or a sadder, less insane version of Animal Collective, or a creepy incarnation of Sigur Ros mashed with Grizzly Bear's instrumentality.

But seriously, all those rather blog-friendly labels don't quite capture all that Fredrik accomplishes in its 13 songs. In addition to their dark, eeriness, there is an ethereal magical element to many of the tracks — they swirl and mesmerize with dreamy arrangements marked by warping guitar, harp, banjo, and violin pickings and the percussion of twinkling bells, trembling wind chimes and clanging bottles.

The beauty of Trilogi really is in the intricate detail: where tiny notes and sounds somehow come together to stand out very vividly and boldly. It's as though you've opened up a complex machine, only to stare at all the little gears working together in sync, so perfectly. 

Opening track, "Vinterbarn," sets the tone right away with its ebb-and-tide swells of soft electro beats, as a low-profile, whispery voice breathes, "The more you grieve/ The more / The more you can breathe." "Milo" is a dark, echoing tune driven by a lonely guitar and fit for a ghostly type of winter wonderland. Other songs like "Holm" and "Vanmyren" feature more fantastical effects (hums and "mmm's") that shimmer and shiver delicately.

At some points, the ambitiousness trumps the success, and there are certainly moments where the album could use more music and less vocals, but overall Trilogi is a slow-moving, trembling and precious creature.

-M.Geslani

Record Label: The Kora Records
Release Date: January 26, 2010