UNDERNEATH THE NIGHTSKY REVIEW BY MATT HOWARTH, SONIC CURIOSITY JANUARY 2008
This release from 2007 offers
58 minutes of cosmic electronic music.
Nattefrost is Bjorn Jeppesen. Phil Molto contributes guitar, and one track is
co-written with Robert Schroeder-Trebor.
This music spends more time integrating with the cosmos than just luxuriating
underneath a night sky. The tunes elevate and expand, infusing the audience with
an affinity with the galactic panorama. At the same time, peppy melodies flavor
those expansive moods with vivacious character, transforming spacey harmonics
into exhilarating melodies possessed of inspirational puissance.
Moody atmospheric textures provide a backdrop for energetic electronics that
surge into play with ponderous determination. Urgent cycles are established,
then allowed to roll in the midground while auxiliary riffs surface to guide the
tunes to airless altitudes.
Threads of gurgling pulsations generate a constant sense of expectation,
building tension with a blooping frivolity. The melodies evoke a vibrant
ascension, constantly striving for additional height, resulting in a dizzying
euphoria that is quite pleasant. Complex keyboard notes flavor the tunes with
novel diversions that serve to lend agitation to the dreamy milieu.
While percussion is present, the majority of rhythms are cocooned in burring
electronic fuzz that attributes each beat with extra vibration. Some of the
time, tempos are just approximated by the rapid application of strident notes.
The compositions tastefully blend aspects of portentous drama with airy efforts
to achieve escape velocity. Jeppesen’s tendency to inject peppy riffs on top
of soothing layers produces a lively sound that revitalizes as it lifts.