Donner: The Van Gennep Gap

Jacob Holm-Lupo is the driving force behind Donner. He provides synths, keyboards, bass, guitar, percussion, and programming. Joining him on two tracks is guitarist Stian Larsen (his bandmate in the self-described “jazz-funk� group Solstein), while Jonas Vemork Kilmøy plays trumpet on one track and Kristoffer Momrak adds flute on another.

The Van Gennep Gap is Donner’s second release and is all instrumental. (The band’s first, 2021’s Hesitant Light, featured one vocal track, a peculiar cover of Steely Dan’s “Night By Night.�) Holm-Lupo says that the album contains “a series of vignettes, chronicling impressions from various places and areas in the Grenland area of southeastern Norway,� where he lives. “I’m trying to chronicle the fleeting but often powerful experiences of beauty and magic I frequently have while traveling around the area. It can be something as transient as the way sunlight hits the concrete on a street corner, or as monumental as one of the large factories at Hærøya blasting blue flames from its tall chimneys into the evening sky.�

Not surprisingly, then, there is a lot of variety on the album. You get some understated, pretty-much straight piano pieces with the opener and the closer; 90s-inspired electronica with a South Asian feel on “Kebab Kowboys,� one of the album’s singles; a track that reminds me of the work of Eberhard Weber from the early to mid-80s with “Grey Skies Over Stridsklev,� the album’s other single; and quite a bit of Tangerine Dream-like passages sprinkled throughout. Two of my favorite tracks are “Starring Wings Hauser,� which benefits from Larsen’s guitar, and “Mists of Frierfjorden,� which comes close to fusion during the middle of the song.

There are more dated-sounding synths and programming on the album than I would prefer, but overall it’s a winner in my book, something I will return to on occasion.

Track Listing
1. Soliloquy (3:36)
2. Downtown After Dark (2:47)
3. The 7-11 Ice Cream Trek (2:07)
4. Grey Skies Over Stridsklev (2:30)
5. I Saw Bright Lights Above the Hills (4:08)
6. Truly! (3:50)
7. Kebab Kowboys (4:03)
8. Kattøya in Rain (3:30)
9. Starring Wings Hauser (3:28)
10. Mists of Frierfjorden (4:01)
11. Rose Clouds of Hærøya (4:54)
12. Soliloquy Reprise (1:30)

Added: February 16th 2025
Reviewer: Aaron Steelman
Score:
Related Link: Band @ Bandcamp
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Language: english

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