Agusa: Noir

Originally conceived as the soundtrack to an independent film created during the recent pandemic, Noir has now become a full-blown album from Swedish prog darlings Agusa. Though most have come to expect long albums filled with side-long suites from this band, chock full of flutes, guitars, Mellotron, Hammond organ, synths, and other instruments used to deliver their brew of classic progressive rock and folk, Noir takes a different approach. Here, 20 short tracks (the digital version has 15) comprise the music for the film Malmo Noir, and it's decidedly darker and more spacey than what we've come to expect from Agusa previously. There are still many of those same elements we love, but it's delivered completely differently. As most tracks run the gamut from 1 minute to just under 5, these are all little pieces within the whole; there are no long instrumental passages, just short bursts of ideas, lots of atmosphere, and chilling arrangements. The occasional creepy vocal bit pops up in spots, and it's all quite fascinating yet still sounds very much like a soundtrack, not highly composed songs. For some, this might be a bit of a disappointment, but I think Noir offers up a different side to Agusa, and this will be an interesting album to dive into while we wait for their next full-length 'regular' album.

Track Listing
1. Tunnelseende 02:37
2. Skottet i parken 03:23
3. Ljusglimtar 02:02
4. Den försvunne brevbäraren 04:32
5. Skånsk rapsodi nr:1 01:47
6. Vind för våg 03:17
7. Svart på vitt 02:20
8. Stad i mörker 04:47
9. Emporia 04:42
10. Pusselbitar 03:19
11. Kalkbrottets hemlighet 03:21
12. Bön för Öresund 04:47
13. Upp i rök 00:56
14. Skånsk rapsodi nr:2 01:13
15. Stad i mörker (repris) 04:56

Added: June 6th 2024
Reviewer: Pete Pardo
Score:
Related Link: Band @ Bandcamp
Hits: 567
Language: english

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