Silje Nes – Ames Room

The new Totally Dublin is finally out, so I can post my Silje Nes album review here. It’s a gorgeous record and well worth purchasing. Hopefully someone will book her to play Dublin very soon. You can listen to some of the tracks here.

Silje Nes – Ames Room (Fatcat Records)

Fatcat Records have an extraordinary knack for unearthing prodigious talent from the far regions of the globe. Diverse acts such as Sigur Ros, Hauschka, Mum, Our Brother The Native, Xinlisupreme, and Grindverk, have all passed through their doors at some point, with varying degrees of success. So step up to the podium Silje Nes, your time has come. Hailing originally from the remote town of Leikanger, on the Sogne fjord of Norway, Nes has pottered away for several years, honing and sharpening her song writing and production skills in Bergen. Ames Room is the result – a warm, delicate debut album from a precocious new talent. The edges are frayed but beautiful, like loose threads on a favourite old jacket. This merely contributes to the overall charm of the record, further enhancing the listening experience. Her vocal delivery is innocence personified, yet restrained enough to avoid the dangerous terrain of twee. All instruments are tackled competently by Nes, interweaving loosely and at times haphazardly, but in a gentle and refreshing manner. Although Nes is a multi-instrumentalist, she is no virtuoso (however, this is by no means a condemnation). She has developed a very individual, absorbing approach to instrumentation and production. Guitar and vocal still provide the foundation for many songs, but the real strength of Ames Room lies in the atmospheric undertones, or clicks and bleeps – the inherent idiosyncrasies. Tracks such as Shapes Electric possess a wonderful ambiguity, where vocals merge seamlessly with the rich orchestration, creating an overall mood rather than distinct parts. Giant Disguise could easily pass as a long lost PJ Harvey remix or cover version. Dizzy Street is upbeat pop with a retro feel reminiscent of Broadcast. In fact, the vocal style of Nes resembles that of Trish Keenan at times, and her drumming style tends to mimic Moe Tucker’s, but in a good way. Yet again Fatcat delivers, and in Ames Room we are treated to fourteen meticulously constructed unorthodox pop songs only crying out for a larger audience.

See Also: Amiina – Kurr (Ever Records), Broadcast – Work And Non Work (Warp Records), Mum – Finally We Are No One (Fatcat Records).