“Same Old Story” is the second single from the IV (the eye vee / ði aɪ-viː), the music project of Engvild Nærum (Are You Having Fun Yet, Ē) from Oslo, Norway, devoted to an introspective exploration of our Western industrialised society through a minimal, austere as well as energetic and emotional combination of 80s atmospheric Post-punk and 90s reflective Indie Rock, built on bare-bone tight rhythms, prominent moody, post-punk style bass and effect-laden resonant guitar riffs, stirred by a raw yet smooth intriguing vocal delivery.
Backed by Per Åsmund Reymert (Dead Movie Animals, Despereaux) on bass and Peter Hiley (Are You Having Fun Yet, Gold Celeste, Mats Wawa, The Wit) on guitar, “Same Old Story” is a song about the narrative we are presented with, to keep us enthralled as consumers, the story of reality that plays out almost invisibly below where suffering is censored, and Freud’s world of dream interpretation, where the two meet.
Propulsive churning basslines throb relentlessly along stark bouncy drum patterns and sparse clattering claps surrounded by spiralling, slightly distorted, wistful agonising guitar reverberations, bleeding over aloof, drawn-out spoken word vocals, rising into rapid obsessions with layered anxious echoes.
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photo by Hallvard Bruøygard
