Deep Snow – Simon Lynge (reviewed by T. Bebedor)

Occasionally an album comes along that, as soon as the first note plays, you instantly know you’re going to like it. It’s a rare thing but another reason why we love listening to new music; to make new discoveries and, hopefully, share these with others.

‘Deep Snow’ is the unassuming album from Simon Lynge and covers subjects such as birth, life, the environmental impact and fragility of life, death and all things in-between but it never feels preachy or negative. There is a character to the songs that allow them to flow from one to another without any feeling out of place or misguided.

Track one, ‘Age of Distraction’ sets the tone with the opening line “cracks are growing deeper, storms are getting bigger” putting the listener in no doubt that this isn’t a love song but a wakeup call for what we already know, the world is changing around us and we stand at the crossroads where we make the decision to do something about it or simply bury our head in the sand and hope it will magically go away. It has a feel of ‘Boy in the Bubble’ by Paul Simon, mixing powerful lyrics with clever music to disguise the message it’s trying to relate.

The sound of the album is based around the trio of guitar, bass and drums with guest appearances from mandolin, clarinet, piano, accordion and all manner of percussion popping in here and there. What does stand out, and work so well, is the double-tracked vocals, it’s similar to what Jose Gonzalez (Swedish) and Sigur Ros (Icelandic) have done and is becoming a bit of a calling card for acts from Scandinavian countries (Lynge is from Greenland). Having this vocal tool at his disposal means he can switch from a duplicate vocal to harmonising whenever the need arises and it works beautifully giving an almost other-worldly feel to the songs.

I don’t want to ruin the album for anybody by going into an in depth, track-by-track description of the album, there is more than enough musical twists and well crafted lyrics to go around but this is an album definitely worth a quiet afternoon to take in. I’ll give a special mention to the final track on the album ‘Babylon Lies in Ruins’, it’s the one I have often reached the end of only to find myself starting it again, it’s magical. My one gripe is it’s too short, when the vocal ends and the music takes on another, grander, tone I wish it would take flight and see where the music takes it. I hope this is a forerunner to whatever Lynge does next because it’s clear he has the skills to hold your attention and take you on a journey.

Find a comfortable chair, put the kettle on, grab your favourite biscuit and float away.