Bror Gunnar Jansson - They Found my Body in a Bag
Ready for out-of-body experience?
They found my body in a bag.
Bror Gunnar Jansson drops for a while the characters he invented, who fed his songwriting up to his third album and half, to let himself inspire by the seediest Swedish miscellaneous news items, like a crime novelist.
He warns that his aim is not to do entertainment from these horrific things but to see where evil comes from. This male violence, mostly inflicted on women, must end, he says.
In agreement wiht his words, his already rough blues becomes even harder, close to rock, almost metal, nonexempt of ballads or instrumentals with a sumptuous crescendo ("Det Stora Oväsendet"). More classic is the slow blues of "Machine", the opening piece, which contains neither the one nor the other (neither machine nor opening).
The songwriter’s electric-only guitar-playing has grown again. And even Emma Augustsson’s cello ("Trains and Nights") is played with an unusual fervour. As for the drums, they will just slap you if you play "There's a Killer on the Loose". Yes, a killer! It’s no laughing matter.
The lyrics are laconic (4 sentences only for "Stay out All Night Long"); it’s the music which expresses as accurately as possible what the words can’t.
This album seems less accessible than the previous one, maybe because it contains no flagship. But make no mistake about it: it’s a good album again. You just need to give it a little more time.
They found a body in a bag. I found light in this black record.
-
They Found my Body in a Bag, "Stay out All Night Long", "There's a Killer on the Loose", "Will You Help Me When I'm Old?" The gentleman doesn’t hesitate to use very long titles. Or very short ("Machine").
Musically, it’s the same. A track like "Stalker" (7 letters) does its 8 minutes. For this one it’s too much, and it’s wearying me.
On the other hand, the instrumental "Det Stora Oväsendet" (the great witch hysteria of 1668-1676 in Sweden) supports well its throbbing stressful atmosphere, all along its 8:45, and injects its sliding theme into your ears. Nicely done!
Finally, a 9th track, "Driving through Norrland, Listening to Earth", is mentioned on the box, but absent of the CD. Pressing error? Last-minute about-face? Alignment of the CD with the vinyl, which is physically more limited? The fact remains that I had to complete my initial purchase with the individual mp3: a 11-minute Brother Jansson is too good to pass up! Here is a good instrumental with a slow, very slow tempo, the drum hit coming to punctuate the rests and to recalls you it still isn’t over. A little like in "The Preacher", in And the Great Unknown, Part II. -
Body in a Bag
Will You Help Me When I'm Old?
Stay out All Night Long -
Stalker
-
-
The sentence
“And he whistled all the way back to shore” ("Machine")
-
himbrorgunnar.com (487 Hits)
-
...And now, listen!
-
Tags
-
Created23 November 2019
-