Every year contains albums that sneak by, utter gems that don’t get the attention they deserve. Let’s not allow Giantsky’s third outing to become one of those. The new album is simply called III, and it is glorious, colorful, and fascinating. It releases today, October 2nd.
Giantsky is a project from Soup’s Erlend Viken of Norway. That alone should get you interested, if you’ve heard any of Soup’s heightened, hazy albums. Erlend is the mastermind here, from composition to cover art, this is a passion project. He provides vocals, guitars, keys, percussion, banjo, bass, and some drums. He brings with him Andreas Kjøl Berg on drums, Myrtoula Røe on vocals, Tuva Halse and Jonas Viken on violin, Astrid Hoffman-Tollaas on cello, and Stuart Braithwaite on guitars.
You can probably tell by now that this album is a mighty undertaking. Giantsky bears some resemblance to Soup in its modern progressive rock tone, but it goes much further and much deeper. The music here is grand and introspective simultaneously, full of dynamic and cinematic moments, but also hushed, subtle, nuanced. It plays like a cinema score, but you’ll hear plenty of terrific guitar, vibrant synth, vocal harmonies, pounding rhythms. It’s like a vivacious journey inwards, into the unknown; floating in utero within new life, new realization, new self-determination.
The album has eight tracks, and while I’ll admit I like the second half more, the whole album flows as one. It opens with “Mundane Morning”, a song that slowly builds with percussion into piercing synth beauty. I absolutely love it. Then comes “Nothing to Forgive Nothing to Forget”, a rich tune with lots of guitar—it reminds me of a Soup song especially—and as it rises and more layers are added, it gets deliciously cacophonous for just a spell, with Erlend in complete control. I love the contrast of the delicate guitar lick right up against complex portions.
The first half ends with “Limerence” and “All the Rage”. The former is incredibly beautiful. It hovers in colors and strings, very much like a film score. It makes me want to cry. The latter is somewhat subdued at the beginning and end, with a mountainous climax in the center. The presence of both vocalists, the shimmering golden tone, the pensive passages: they all come together to make this song feel like a towering moment in the album.
The last four tracks are just superb. I love “Reveries of Gold”, though it’s one of those songs that must grow on you. It has such whimsy, such human tempo. It flickers on a breath, on a breeze, teasing us with strings and acoustic guitar. I love how it maintains its course the whole way through, but the guitar solo sweeps in with emotion, the banjo accents give us glimpses of a grounded organic world, and the whole thing is just amazing.
It leads into “Fleeting Glimpse”, which is another favorite. I have to admit that the jazzy tempo at the beginning reminds me of watching a Charlie Brown cartoon with Schroeder on full display. That’s a good thing in my book. It is so attractive, so homey, yet it soon launches into a spiraling, lengthy passage that just keeps climbing, keeps building, keeps drawing out emotions from every part of my soul. It is incredible.
The final two tracks are gems. “Sun World” really focuses on Myrtoula’s vocals, and it feels tender, basking as it does in nostalgia and just simply existing, just being in the moment. It prepares us for the closer, “Lifting Apples”, another favorite. This song takes its time. Erlend’s vocals serenade us, whispering truths hidden to some. But the song transitions, rises into many layers before you even realize it. The little spiral of electronica, the distant strings, the tight melody: the song becomes a chorus of ideas before you even realize what’s happened. The gritty purity of the cinema at the end just leaves me breathless.
Giantsky III is such a splendorous affair. Without a doubt, it is one of the most unadulterated, gorgeous albums of the year. Each time I dive into its warmth, I hear more, feel more, see more. It’s one of those albums that feels like opening your eyes for the first time to see world as it really is. It just makes me feel. I hope you’ll give it the time and embrace it needs.
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Find Giantsky online:
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