Simian Ghost was
initially a one-man band. That one man was Sebastien Arnström who released an album called Infinite Traffic Everywhere a couple of
years ago to critical acclaim in his native Sweden. Then Simian Ghost became an
alt-pop three piece after Sebastien recruited Erik Klinga and Mathias
Zachrisson. The trio released an album earlier this year called Youth from which Automation is the third and final single to be culled. Where Infinite Traffic Everywhere was an
accomplished debut it was still audibly a solo DIY project, albeit more
polished than most. The addition of a full band on Youth makes Arnström’s
indie-pop shimmer in a way that Automation
highlights.
I’ll just say ‘chillwave’
now and get it out of the way with nice and early. It’s definitely an aspect of
the Simian Ghost sound and it’s found in Automation’s
chilled, androgynous vocals. The whole tune sounds like it’s been specifically
written for being played over a montage of things you get up to on a sunny day
in early August; the upbeat bass rhythm threads the twinkling xylophone and
verging-on-urgent-but-never-quite-getting-there guitar together to create a
lovely sunbeam of a track. My only problem with Automation is that there’s a wonderful juxtaposition of the sweet
sounding tune and the slightly bittersweet lyrics about “nights that can break
your heart”, yet it’s over so fast and it never really takes off in a way that
makes it memorable. It’s fleeting and I feel like it should be lasting, but
then that’s a perfect description of a summer romance and that’s exactly what Automation is about. So just enjoy its
nostalgia-pop yearnings for days gone by wrapped in exquisitely crafted
Scandinavian twee.
Automation by Simian Ghost is
available now via Heist or Hit Records.
LD
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