Boy, have I dreaded, but at the same time much anticipated, commenting on the new Kashmir album, Trespassers. How do you subjectively review a band, that has in many ways been your musical year zero? And how do you compare a week-old record with staples in your record collections - albums you know inside out?It isn't easy to throw off the Zitilites-harness, neither for me nor for Kashmir. Whilst running through Trespassers for the first time, you can't help comparing it to the fervor of 'Melpomene', the imperativeness of 'Surfing The Warm Industry', the quirky aesthetics of 'Ruby Over Diamonds' or the sheer beauty of 'Petite Machine'. Kashmir will never again create an album like Zitilites, neither like The Good Life, their ballad-laden breakthrough effort.
But let's fast forward a bit - eleven years on from The Good Life, six from Zitilites, five from slightly clinical No Balance Palace, through a decade and a bit, and into Kashmir anno 2010 - the Trespassers-era. We are now dealing with a band getting up there in years. It sure has been a long time since Kasper Eistrup's blond fuzz of the 'Graceland' video, or the eccentric, humouristic punk-funk of the first two records. We are dealing with a band, whose last record, while having gotten a favourable reception, these last few years has somehow slid behind its two predecessors in prominence. No Balance Palace was never as sincere, never as heartfelt as Zitilites or The Good Life, and although some of the tracks, such as opener 'Kalifornia' and the closing title track, were obvious winners, No Balance Palace seems to be covered in a duvet-like varnish that fades it in comparison to its predecessors.
For Trespassers, Kasper Eistrup, the band's main songwriter, has at times isolated himself completely (Bon Iver, anyone?), and returned to the band with material to work on, or to be thrashed. This seems to suit the band, as one always got the impression that the No Balance Palace sessions were somewhat concentrated in the studio, with Tony Visconti very audibly pulling the strings.
Opener 'Mouthful of Wasps', while already having become a bit tiresome through its heavy rotation on P3, is a very accessible and delightful song, with a skillfully written chorus that passes through feelings of despair, darkness, determination and, ultimately, hope. Throughout the album, but very clearly on Wasps, we witness how keyboardist Henrik Lindstrand has become much more central in the songwriting process, in comparison to the very guitar heavy No Balance Palace. He seems to have switched his focus from pads and background noises to leads and piano, which suits the band's sound very well.
'Intruder' is somewhat ordinary, albeit lyrically well-written, but the next few songs really hit home. 'Mantaray' and 'Still Boy', divided by curious interlude 'Pallas Athena', are among the strongest tracks on this album. They are a bit similar in build and form, and this is where Trespassers really takes off from No Balance Palace, as these tracks are much more naked and much more intensive than No Balance Palace ever was. It leads ones thoughts back to the The Good Life-era, to tunes like 'Miss You' and 'Kiss Me Goodbye'. This part of the record integrates Lindstrands pianoes and leads with a somewhat youthful guitar-sound in a formidable way.
Next comes the album's weakest bit. It's funny how so many records have a mediocre middle part. 'Bewildered In The City' is, after the first few listens at least, a indifferent piece of music, luckily carrying the albums clear-cut most beautiful lyrics. A bit weepy at times, yes, but very strongly and skillfully written.
I'm a mole rushing blind through your nooks and veins.That is quite poetic. Too bad the music accompanying it is so ordinary. 'Pursuit of Misery' is a decent track, but it seems somehow misplaced in between the ballads that dominate the latter half of Trespassers. I absolutely love the guitar that kicks in at about 1:01 though, what a twang! And I like the drum-piano pattern in the final part too. It is however a track that never quite takes off, and it's somewhat schizophrenically neither beautiful nor powerful. Same goes for 'Time Has Deserted Us', which in my opinion is the weakest track on the record.
Curling up drunk in your vacant carpool lanes.
By now, during my first listen, I was growing quite negative in opinion on this record, but then comes 'Danger Bear'. What a stunning and exquisite little piece this is! I especially love the second verse, where a delicately beautiful string section enters and accompanies a wonderful piece of lyric in a lovely way:
Your heart is for beating.So debonaire.
Not the fiends that stand in your way.
'The Indian (That Dwells Inside This Chest)' is a fitting and strong closer to an album, whose biggest weakness is perhaps the fact, that none of the tracks really take off. Some of them contain beautiful lyrics, whilst others employ to different degrees the masterfulness of Henrik Lindstrand's pianoes and beautifully orchestrated string-sections, and the close-knitness of Kashmirs guitar and rhythm section. But none of the tracks contain the whole package. There's no 'Melpomene' or 'Gorgeous' or 'Petite Machine' or 'Lampshade' on this album, yet it does stand out as being very well composed, most of it anyhow. Time will tell if it has the longevity of Zitilites and The Good Life, but I do definitely think Kashmir with Trespassers have come a long way from the anonymity and coldness of No Balance Palace. Trespassers is a delightful album, regardless of where it ends up in the hierarchy in a few years.
