There’s something going on in the North. Iceland’s Hjaltalín incorporate a disco sensibility and Sweden’s Concretes draw from the same well on their new album WYWH. Although this is probably not the future direction of Nordic music, it’s now an important part of it, showcases a reinvented Concretes and, judging by last night’s show, they might as well be a new band. Although still glacial – you could never imagine them breaking a sweat on stage – this show drew a curtain on their past.
There’s something going on in the North. Iceland’s Hjaltalín incorporate a disco sensibility and Sweden’s Concretes draw from the same well on their new album WYWH. Although this is probably not the future direction of Nordic music, it’s now an important part of it, showcases a reinvented Concretes and, judging by last night’s show, they might as well be a new band. Although still glacial – you could never imagine them breaking a sweat on stage – this show drew a curtain on their past.
When the outside world became aware of Stockholm’s Concretes in the very early 21st century, fans were charmed by a melancholy that took Mazzy Star’s post-Jesus and Mary Chain wash and made it over with a lush pop sensibility that was as much St Etienne as Sixties girl group. It didn’t take long to make an impact: US retail chain Target picked their “Say Something New” for a TV ad.
Their last album, 2007’s Hey Trouble, was their third. It was recorded immediately after the departure of founder member and singer Victoria Bergsman. Despite drummer/singer Lisa Milberg taking over the vocals for Hey Trouble, the album was in keeping with what had been released previously. It’s now clear that Hey Trouble was a jumping-off point for a period of radical overhaul. The Concretes' current vision owes little to their past. Beyond the departure of Bergsman, post-WYWH, The Concretes are a slimmer band. Now a six, rather than an eight-piece, Milberg was the only female Concrete at The Lexington.
They began as a female trio – Bergsman, Milberg and the now-absent Maria Eriksson. However they’ve arrived at where they are now, WYWH is a terrific album, a collection of melancholia that melds the detached – frozen – mood of Tango in the Night-era Fleetwood Mac to a tight groove that never lets rip, never threatens to explode. The constraint makes for a compelling tension. But it was hard to see how this new Concretes would work live.
As the band amble on stage, there’s a sense that this is Milberg plus five Sleeper blokes – anonymous indie types lurking behind a charismatic female front person. Mostly bearded and in sensible trousers, The Concretes' blokes look more like high-school teachers than rockers. Milberg follows them on in a less anonymous batik-style print dress.
Kicking off with WYWH’s first three tracks in album sequence – “Good Evening”, "My Ways” and "Crack in the Paint” – it’s obvious that the male Concretes are playing in a new way. Bass and drums are locked in a groove that would have been alien before. Keyboards stab rather than fill. Amongst the first live airings of the new material, this show was a bit tentative – the keyboards and guitar didn’t quite lock at the beginning of “My Ways”. Milberg’s vocals blend in though, a de-teutonified Nico. It’s great stuff, stiff-backed yet propulsive. Swinging too. As if disco was meant for formation dancing rather than free expression. Just how much this was a new beginning became even clearer when the old and familiar was aired. “Say Something New” sounded like indie rock against the new material. It jarred. Of the 13 songs aired, only three were old. Another was an encore cover of Robert Palmer’s “Johnny and Mary”.
Where this new Concretes will go is hard to tell. Once the initial tentativeness wore off, they were assured. But it’s difficult to see music this precise and cool going over at next summer’s festivals – the bread and butter for many bands. But, for now, that doesn’t matter as The Concretes easily conquered the shock of the new.
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