This album from the Finnish quintet is described as “a biography of dream noir”. Morricone, haunted house thrillers, Lynchian twists and in one case a mellow Motown mood are quoted. This self-confessed dreamy thing could go either way for me, but it certainly sounded interesting on paper.
Dreamy and floaty is what “Fifth Season”, the opener, is. The baritone chorus is out of the 1960s. The female vocalist with the child-like reach who invites us to dream is accompanied by a suitably mellow instrumental performance. It probably doesn’t help but I could imagine George Michael singing this. “Raging Blue” steps into a shadowy, sinister world – here we go with Her Shadow’s entry into a mysterious world. It called for dark symphonics and this is what we got on this slow-moving song. As the cobwebs build on the wall, Her Shadow move on to the equally slow but theatrically gloomy “White Lane”. There is a strong element of theatre about the work of this band, from what I’m hearing. “White Lane” is like an act being played out. There’s always that dreamy twist. “Shining the light on the moon”, a lyric from “So Close”, captures the outer worldliness but then “forgive me for not being drunk enough” could go either way. The ambiance is of a surreal world. “Daydreams for nightmare lovers”, they call it. “Devil Inside” is just that, but with that George Michael twist about it again. Sha-la-la-la goes the chorus, commercially. It’s “Leader of the Pack” without the motorbikes. With a bit of imagination, this could be on Top of the Pops.
“Kinda Love You” has a pop like feel to it in a dark and spooky way. In its soft and disarming way, enhanced as always by those dreamy vocals and the harmonies, it’s actually a powerful song. I like it. Dark scenes are captured in “Poisoned Moon”. With symphonic strains, the music and singer combine into a gentle but spine-chilling chorus. “Vigilante” sounds at first like a Native American tribe has intruded before reverting to the floaty narrative and hippie vibe of the acoustic guitar line. It’s a curious song, with a rock guitar solo preceding the final steady advance. Our vocalist sounds in a faraway place as “The Age of Velvet” begins. This is a world of stargazing progression, with little twists and atmospheric developments but always in a light, airy and light-hearted way. We could be floating along in the galaxy. We sway to the chorus. The album closes with the 13 minute “What Hides in the Dark”. The vocalist’s childlike tones are put to this sombre and sinister piece. Mid way there’s an ambient passage which builds up in sound. It’s not clear where it’s leading. The tension rises. Slightly disappointingly, there’s a break and a guitar line rings out in a kind of post-rock style. This is a distinct change of direction, but the enveloping atmosphere of swirling fog is there as it is throughout this album. The musical scene expands. In the background there is symphonic melancholy and the faint haunting tones of the vocalist. A strong guitar line now strikes up. It was an unexpected way to bring this album to a close but Her Shadow prove many times over on this album that each of the twists they introduce are deliberate and add to the powerful atmosphere of this album. So too this album ends in a powerful, epic and haunting way.
“The Ghost Love Chronicles” got under my skin in a good way. There’s nothing extreme about it, but it has character and is unusual. At times it is chillingly dark. At other times there is levity. It’s never extreme. But above all its misty and dreamy.
(7.5/10 Andrew Doherty)
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