Today I am listening to the EP Kris from the Swedish death disco band, KÅRP. The opening track, also named Kris, features some deep rich dark tones that immediately hooked me and dragged me into the swirling maelstrom of Kris. It becomes apparent that this is not a coincidence. KÅRP tells us that they started working on a trilogy of EP’s representing the three stages of an apocalypse: chaos, silence, and new world order, shortly after their first album release. I love the name of their first album, Album 1.
Their first EP – Kris – brings us right into the chaos and disorientation of the downfall. KÅRP elucidate, “The world is burning. The police are shooting innocent people. Natural disasters and wars are forcing families to flee for their lives. The barbed wire gets sharpened by the wealthy nation’s borders, and a pandemic is closing our societies down in a way that’s never been seen before. Turn off the lights. Close the windows and put your mask on because this is the real pandemic, and it comes with a thundering death disco.”
Death Disco is what KÅRP calls their style of music, and I think it is a good choice. Death is the message in the songs, and the disco bass that pervades this EP is an excellent way to drive that message home. I somewhat expect music associated with death to be morbid and dreary, but Kris keeps the listeners’ attention with the danceable part of disco. I associate this style of music where the content is not readily apparent within the context of the piece, i.e. dark messages in bright and likely music, to artists such as of Montreal, among others. It confuses my body when the music says dance and the lyrics say dirge.
I will be keeping an ear aimed at KÅRP to find out where they are going with this musical triptych’s middle and third panels, which will be about silence and the new world order. I am especially keen on how they will express silence through the medium of sound. There have been a lot of good songs on the topic, I just googled it, and I need to make a playlist now that I’ve started talking about it. Hush by Deep Purple is probably my favourite, although Sounds of Silence by Simon & Garfunkel isn’t far behind.
I look forward to hearing more from KÅRP. You should check them out for yourself; they make some catchy music with lyrics that make you think. KÅRP has already planted an earworm in my brain, thanks a lot. 🙂
https://karp.bandcamp.com/music
https://www.facebook.com/MUSICBYKARP/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8TJ-7kDpB-iqUDXNe5SmJw
Weathered Music 