Some albums are easy to review, simply because they are so easy to like. Myrkur’s brand new album Spine is so accessible, even for listeners who haven’t experienced this type of music, and it is a joy to hear. The album released on October 20th.
Myrkur is Amalie Bruun. She’s had an interesting career, producing albums in pop and metal, and even scoring the television show Ragnarok. At one time, Myrkur was an anonymous project, but she has joined it with her true name. On this record, she handles vocals, piano, violin, synth, organ, and nyckelharpa.
Myrkur has seen albums released in a black metal format, and in a tradition folk style. Folk is always the central force of her music, and then she weaves in other genres. For Spine, she does revisit some light black metal aesthetic on a couple tracks, but you will hear plenty of Gothic, doom, and sludge metal, as well as shoegaze and pop ideas. Again, it’s a very accessible album, so if any of those labels scare you, I still think you should give it a try.
Spine is a wonderful and short album. It has a great primary theme of life during and after childbirth, and so the album is full of love and elation, but also uncertainty and dark, organic flesh. It is a human record, through and through, one that is trying to process change, the future, and the current confusion of two individuals existing in such intimate connection.
I mentioned that it is short: only about 34 minutes long. I actually like albums of all different lengths, but sometimes a short album hits more satisfyingly, and you might even get the urge to listen twice in a row. I feel that way about Spine because when it ends, I want more.
Still, we get nine tracks, and there isn’t a weak one among them. I love the singles “Like Humans”, with its chorus that spills off the lips so easily, and “Mothlike”, the black metal-tinged and darkened piece with bright synth and a groove that feels rather hidden the first couple times you hear it. I love, too, the title track for its lyrics that betray some raw imagery of one becoming two, down to the bone, and I love the rushing crescendos that really are quite breathtaking. That track reminds me of an Agnes Obel tune, for some reason.
Other tracks might not get the same attention, but they should. “My Blood is Gold” is a shadowy visage, like a heartbeat, that is evocative and full of whispered melody. Another favorite is “Blazing Sky”, a bold and confident rock piece that has a spacey, classic sense about it. “Devil in the Detail” needs attention, too, for its marching contrast between spiraling vocal melodies, percussive command, and a blackened finale that brings it all together brilliantly. The closer “Menneskebam” is pure candy with its beautiful melody and motherly intentions.
Spine is the easiest album to absorb from Myrkur yet, and it’s also the one that I think fans will listen to the most. It might not be as complex as Mareridt or as traditional as Folkesange, but it has its own character, and melody is front and center. Give this one a shot!
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