NEØV: Orange Morning

    If you have been a faithful reader of The Music Binge, you might remember a band called Neufvoin, whose two EP's Robokop and Fake Musket I wrote up, back in June of 2011 actually. Well, too bad that band is no more, because they showed so much promise and they were among my first foray's into the Scandinavian pop world--Rubik being another. But, what has been on my radar for a long time coming is the result of a few members leaving Neufvoin: NEØV. Orange Morning is NEØV's debut album and I've been impatiently waiting its arrival for some time now. The album arrived February 8th on the Fullsteam Record label, while it was produced by Artturi Taira and Sampsa Väätäinen, who are members of Rubik. I definitely hear more similarities between the bands because of that connection, which is a good thing indeed! Neufvoin has toured with Rubik, who is also on Fullsteam, so that must be how the arrangement came about. NEØV is the product of brothers Anssi and Samuli Neuvonen, who originally founded Neufvoin and eventually NEØV too. They hail from the town of Kuopio, which is a city, according to their website bio: "surrounded by lakes, with several parts of the town built on small islands. The influence of their surroundings can be heard in the band’s music: it’s expansive but quiet, grandiose but intimate." The brothers are joined by Ari Autio, Jonas Ursin and Antti Hevosmaa. The band's page on Fullsteam is here.
    Anssi Neuvonen does most of the writing and what I hear in Orange Morning is a great sense of direction and ability to produce a myriad of interesting sounds that are not too eclectic to be considered untamed or juvenile. The band clearly has some experience in creating music and it shows in their understanding of the Scandinavian affinity for post-rock and more reposeful musical styles in general. Sigur Ròs being the masters of the post-rock genre, many other Scandinavian rock/pop (pop because really what we'd consider indie rock, to my knowledge, is their pop music. American pop music is totally not cool at all in comparison!) bands turn to something similar, utilizing a lot of instrumental additions. You will hear brass often, especially trumpet, in Orange Morning, and what sets that apart from American uses of instruments is they have a stronger role melodically. There's also a lot of ambient and dreamy synths and a heavier (or more striking I guess you could say) guitar sound, without always being distorted. Orange Morning borders on the edge of dream pop, but just not in the same sense as the silly twee pop bands often fall into dream pop categories, this is much more serious music. The drums are often more fanfarish and the songs are generally more through composed, not just verse, chorus, verse, chorus refrain (or whatever). In some ways they could be considered Shoe-gaze too, but more subtly.
    I cannot over emphasize that NEØV and Scandinavian pop music is so much more about melody than their American counterparts. That's why in listening I am drawn to Orange Morning. It is a full listening experience, you have to sit down and enjoy it, not in passing, and you likely won't find many of their songs on the radio, even indie stations--maybe "Windvane" or "Morning Fire", which is one of the best songs on the album in my opinion. The album just reaches a chord (pun intended) at that point, five tracks in with "Morning Fire", where it really feels like it has settled quite nicely.
    Orange Morning starts clean, a word I am using a lot these days [to describe food] with "Faces Against Orange Rain", which just sets the tone and paints a picture of what to expect. "Daydream City" continues with something a little more popish, less post-rock, which opens up the way for the middle section of the album, I'd suggest. Track three, "Windvane", is somewhat of an idea, not straying too far within the framework of the song. I especially like the next song "A Fall Through the Roofs", which begins with a thoughtful use of rhythmic drumming juxtaposed against the quiet "ooh" of singing, excellent bass playing and simple chords on an electric piano. Midway through, the song takes off and evolves into a grooving track before quieting down slowly again before a final push to the finish. Cannot emphasize the bass in this one too much, it is good to hear such a melodic part being used with that much effectiveness on bass. "Morning Fire" is more like something Rubik would create, with fanfarish brass moments and elements of glee brought to you by orchestral bells and march-like drums. "Mellow" is another decent track, with probably the heaviest dream pop elements of any track on Orange Morning. It is pretty similar throughout the song, but ends by drilling sound into the listener, with chords that just come at you and a loud drum hit that keeps reoccurring. "1999" is a really nice at most times quieter track with gorgeous bells and a pleasant melody, while the other "slow" track is a 3/4 time waltz, "Otherworld" with nice brass and bass parts, and distorted guitar. The final song, "Whale Hymn" is somewhat epic in nature.
    NEØV's website is here. Check out the entire album streaming on Spotify, the only place I could find it, sadly, as I finally join the ranks of listeners who have submitted to Spotify's control on humanity (I will never use it for radio though, that's just not my thing listening to the same songs over and over and songs that don't belong in the same category). Also, a free download of "Windvane", here, on Fullstream's SoundCloud page. If you navigate to Fullsteam's main SoundCloud page, you'll find "Mellow", "Morning Fire" and "Windvane (Koralleven remix)". I've linked the song, "Morning Fire" over under the 'Monthly Sample Tracks'. Enjoy!