Album: Permafrost - The Light Coming Through

While it does get very cold in the north of Norway, it’s likely that Permafrost’s chosen name reflects a fondness for Howard Devoto’s post-punk outfit Magazine as much as it does their home country’s environment. “Permafrost” was a track on Magazine’s second album, 1979’s Secondhand Daylight. And, with respect to the title The Light Coming Through, the penultimate track on Magazine’s 1978 debut album was “The Light Pours Out of me.”

The ostensible Magazine references point to aspects of where Permafrost are coming from. There is also a large dose of Faith-era Cure in play, along with smidges of New Order circa 1985’s Low Life (also, the arpeggios opening the album’s “Closed Eyes” are similar to those of New Order’s “Ceremony”).

Although the Molde and Trondheim-based Permafrost come across as post-punk throwbacks with a slight Goth bent, the backstory undermines the impression they might be straightforward revivalists.The band’s British keyboard player and recent arrival Daryl Bamonte has worked with Depeche Mode – roadie, road manager, other admin roles and fill-in musician – and his brother Perry’s band The Cure in similar capacities. There is history too. Permafrost's first release was 1983’s cassette-only album Godtment. Their two core members reanimated the band for a follow-up EP, which arrived in 2019. The Light Coming Through follows three 2021 singles, all of which are included on what’s now become their second album. With this background, no wonder that the first lyrics heard are “So here we are standing in front of our shadows.”

This is a crisply efficient and direct – albeit chilly – album. The opening cut is a scene-setting instrumental which closes with a few lyrics. After this, “Femme Fatale” is a propulsive pop nugget rather than a cover version of the Velvet Underground song of the same name. Next, “Care” has the chug and melodic smarts of “Just Like Heaven” Cure. From hereon in, toetapper after toetapper, immediate tune after immediate tune. The Eighties-style framing will ensure this appeals to those with a yen for the era’s darker music, but The Light Coming Through also stands on its own merits.

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