GAZPACHO FREEZE TIME ON LATEST CD
Molok ’s follow-up mixes space themes with Bollywood and the world’s oldest recording.
Gazpacho say their new album pushes their sound in new and unexpected directions. Soyuz, which is out through Kscope in May, explores the idea of capturing moments of fleeting happiness.
“We thought we might try to get away from the doom and gloom that we always end up writing about,” explains keyboardist Thomas Andersen. “We were at my summer house looking at the Oslo Fjord and there was a white sail against the background of the blue sea. It was a perfect moment and we thought we would try to capture that feeling of happiness through music. That morphed into the story of someone who manages to do this and stays in a frozen moment. Then we had the idea of these invisible workers who destroy the past so it’s inaccessible to us.”
The title track was inspired by the faulty Soyuz 1 spacecraft which crashed soon after its 1967 launch and symbolises the idea of a moment suspended in time. It’s bookended with the longer Soyuz Out, which considers what might have been going through its pilot’s mind shortly before impact.
The eight-track album welcomes the return of Gazpacho’s former drummer Robert Johansen, as well as regular guest Kristian ‘The Duke’ Skedsmo on banjo. There are also some unexpected samples from a Bollywood soundtrack and a clip of the French folk song Au Clair De La Lune from 1860, which is believed to be the earliest known recording of the human voice. The finished result has been mixed by John Rausch (Taylor Swift/P!nk), which Andersen says has given the album a very clean-cut sound.
“He’s a very poppy mixer and we loved the way he played with delays and reverb,” he confirms. “It’s got more guitars and less of the hypnotic, long passages which we were really into for a couple of albums. It’s like trip-hop meets progressive rock meets classic rock meets world music so it’s very complex. You have to give it a few spins to let the music sink in.”
Gazpacho are currently preparing for a European tour. The dates also include one UK show at London’s Tufnell Park Dome on
May 28.
Andersen says, “We’ll be playing a double set and we’re thinking of a few secret things that will make an excellent night for everyone.” NRS
For the full tour dates and more, visit www.gazpachoworld.com.
“You have to give it a few spins to let the music sink in.”