You might need to bear with me on this while I explain myself away into an ever deepening hole because we are going to mention ABBA. Now its not often that Sweden’s pop aristocracy get many mentions or references as comparisons in these missives. I mean even the most arrogantly aloof musical snob has surely at some point in their lives behind closed doors cooed at ‘Knowing me Knowing you’, ‘The Name of the Game’, ’Does your Mother know’ and ‘The day before you came’ and admitted admiration in their pristinely honed pop chops, agreed stuff like ‘Thank you for the Music’, ‘Super Trouper’ and ‘Chiquitita’, I’d happily help you set fire to.
Why then mention, well only for the mere reason that vocalist Alla has tones that sound like they’ve been laboratory grown by way of cross pollinating the essences of both Agnetha and Anni-Frid (albeit going mid way through all Tasmin Archer). Solder that onto the fragile vulnerability of Alison Goldfrapp at her most bruised and lovelorn, frame into a chilling though seductively darkly amorphic noir setting and perch atop a sparsely coiled opining twang loop as much favoured by a Twin Peaks soundtrack and then sit back and witness your jaw line dropping in utter bewitchment. The track in question is ’Winter Song’ it heads up an EP about to surface by the mouth of ghosts.
