Track Of The Day WHITE BIRCHES
Renowned Swedish dark wave act White Birches sets the tone for their upcoming third album, “A New Reign”, via Progress Productions with the first single “Breathing”.
Formed in the summer of 2013, the two-piece comprises Jenny Gabrielsson Mare (vocals and guitars) and Fredrik Jonasson (synths, drum programming).
Written in the aftermath of loss and upheaval, the song captures both pressure and relief. It is about survival: the simple act of breathing, where one wave of sound inhales and the next exhales.
photo by Ekaterina Iakiamseva
The haunting balance between fragility and ferocity reminiscent of Chelsea Wolfe, PJ Harvey and Anna von Hausswolf, according to the press, is augmented by mesmeric trip-hop-like cadences and NIN’s droning, distorted industrial tones, combined with the band’s distinctive Lynch/Badalamenti-tinged eerie cinematic flair, between oneiric states and harsh reality, swathed in chilly shades of sorrow and survival.
The track unravels stark, hard-hitting martial snares woven with droning low ends, swept by wintry synth-laced atmospheric drama, building soul-wrenching, desolate landscapes, paved by a lacerating undertows of dire, abrasive guitar blades overlapped with alienating edgy loops and poignant swelling keys, jolting in unison with cold hypnotic, softly spoken dreamy female vocals, releasing desperate airy anxiety, before inhaling quickly to explore the all-encompassing act of breathing.
Keep up with White Birches:
photo by Ekaterina Iakiamseva
