Albums often take me by surprise. Some records that I’m not really anticipating specifically or that I even delay hearing sometimes end up being my favorites. The new Meer album Wheels Within Wheels wasn’t on my most anticipated list; but look, it’s my first 10/10 of the year. This album was released on August 23rd and is absolutely staggering.
Meer hails from Norway. I remember hearing and even sharing their 2021 album Playing House, a rock-solid offering in its own right. But this—this new album is something on a different plane of play altogether. The band includes Johanne-Margrethe Kippersund Nesdal on vocals, Knut Kippersund Nesdal on vocals and keys, Eivind Strømstad on guitars, keys, and programming, Åsa Ree on violin, Ingvild Nordstoga Sandvik on viola, Ole Gjøstøl on piano, keys, organ, and programming, Morten Strypet on bass, and Mats Fjeld Lillehaug on drums. Everyone in the band offers backing vocals at one time or another, and additional guests include Andrea Brennodden Rosenlund on flute and Lars Gärtner Fremmerlid on vibraphone.
That is a quite a lineup of sounds and textures, and that’s because the band is devoted to this idea of being an alternative pop orchestra. I think that label defines them well, but it deserves some clarity. The band plays an expansive, reaching alternative progressive pop that has plenty of rock elements. You’ll hear some indie and prog rock sounds, soulful and humongous vocal performances, technically brilliant instrumentation, and enormous melodies. Mentally, I group them with the likes of Bent Knee, Major Parkinson, and Kalandra, but they feel larger and more toweringly expressive than even those groups.
Wheels Within Wheels hit me squarely in the chest. Not only is the music exquisite and divinely beautiful, but the record also offers some of the most human and emotional songs I’ve heard this year. I’m not afraid to say this album sounds quite specifically like the introspective, impassioned harmonies of the millennial and Gen Z heart. Again and again, I find myself relating to the lyrics, which feels surreal since these artists live on the other side of the world. Indeed, we share a common experience in watching the world burn and personal ambitions come to naught in a sea of greed, war, hate, and power struggles.
There are so many highlights on this album that I almost find it impossible to work through each song. The obvious feature is the brother and sister duo on vocals; Johanne and Knut have extraordinary voices with enormous range. I find it interesting that Knut has the gentler tone, though he can hit notes that will blow your mind, while Johanne has more grit in her voice and can hit levels of intensity that will send sparks down your spine. But even with these performances, the rest of the band plays astonishingly well, from powerful bass lines and dynamic drumming to gloriously beautiful strings and moving guitar solos. The whole array of artists brings something to the table that is necessary and good for the outcome.
The album has eleven songs, and they are all fantastic. Let me just say this: there are moments strewn throughout that, even after many listens, still make my jaw drop. If I had to pick my favorite half of the album, it’d be the second half, though that’s a difficult decision. The album opens with a song that I can’t get out of my head called “Chains of Changes”; this captivating song about loss of innocence is rich with melody and feeling, and I find myself singing the chorus constantly. The album doesn’t let up from here, either.
The first half continues with powerful tunes like “Behave” and elegant works like “Take Me to the River”; the latter is so atmospheric, and I like how it breaks into a folk-laced instrumental in the second half that spirals with light and color. I’m a sucker for albums where the title appears in the lyrics of a song without actually being the name of a song, and “Come to Light” is exactly that. This piece has a commanding chorus and a healing aura that I absolutely need right now. The vocal harmonies of the whole band are particularly amazing here.
I see the first half ending after the sixth track. The remaining two are “Golden Circle”, which is the groovy single, and then the passionate “To What End”. The former is an interesting choice for a single because I don’t think it represents the rest of the album particularly well, as good as it is. The latter is a gut-punch of a song with tension and gravel and contention within its blood. If the album ended here, it would still be a beast of a release.
But it doesn’t even there, and believe it or not, it only gets better. The second half opens with what may be my favorite song of the year, and I don’t say that lightly. “Today Tonight Tomorrow” is a fervently subtle work of art; Knut brings grace and an impossibly good vocal performance to bear on some of the most relatable lyrics I’ve ever heard. The song floats in a sea of thoughts and dreams before hitting a veritable iceberg of pain, despair, and expressive brilliance. My God, the notes he hits on this song are incredible, and the magnificent flow of melody and feeling in the second part always brings me to tears—every single time. Do yourself a favor and watch the acoustic live version of this song. It is stunning in every aspect.
After the gorgeous interlude-style piece “World of Wonder”, the band moves to “Mother”, a tender duet that feels just right at this point in the album. It keeps things graceful and illustrious. Why? Well, the next song is “Something in the Water”, a turbulent and dominating piece where Johanne puts everything into her sonic blast of a voice. It grows slowly in intensity, as does her demeanor, and the song simply explodes near the end. The band is so good at these cinematic, towering works. The closer is “This Is the End”, the longest song on the album and possibly the proggiest. This track is full of piano and feeling, and as the song progresses into vocal harmonies and space, it grows bolder. There is a certain interplay between childish wonder and grounding tenacity in the final moments that feels incredibly satisfying, and even though it ends somewhat abruptly, I’ve come to see this as deeply appropriate.
Meer have created a masterpiece with Wheels Within Wheels. I kept trying to convince myself that I was overblowing its brilliance or that I’d find negatives to share, but those things just haven’t happened. If anything, the album gets better and better. This is simply one of the most emotional, magnificently paced, heatedly performed albums I’ve ever heard. The sheer brilliance of the vocal performances cannot be understated, but the real magic is where those expressions combine with lyrical power and enchanting instrumentation. I cannot get enough of the album.
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