Soft Power - In A Brown Study

Every now and then, with this reviewing lark, comes an album that on paper you wouldn't think that you would like but on hearing it...wow! It happened to me very recently with this album from Finnish band Soft Power , a band that describe themselves as a 'Psychedelic Rock' band but I read elsewhere that they were 'jazzy prog' and so I was tempted to give it a swerve but I'm so glad I didn't - they are so much more than that and in 'In A Brown Study' they have created an album that is breathtaking in its scope and range and I really, really dig it!

'Aavaa # 1/ MF' opens the album with some melancholic stabs of brass before a rather beautiful acoustic guitar / piano combo heralds the entrance of a throbbing bassline and some funky drumming. When all of these elements come together you are treated to something special....it has a noticable jazz influence, there's no denying that, but overall the feel is of some groovy seventies club where everyone sips Martinis and smokes Sobranies. This is not sturm und drang, blistering psych but it has an inate ability to relax the listener and bring a contented smile to their lips. 'Mitä On Kätketty Meiltä' musically sounds like some of the awesome drone and ethnic instrument material that E GONE is so proficient at but this has some spoken word (Finnish I assume) that, and no offence meant to Finnish readers, sounds to my tender English ears like a long lost language from the mind of Tolkien. The result is a remarkable 3 minutes of music. 'Ääntä Wallista' takes us right back to the jazz arena and the sound of a smokey basement club....it sounds for the most part like a standard jazz number but the guitar, when it arrives, lifts it into 'psychedelic jazz' territory (is that even a thing?). 'Kulma Klubi' takes the jazz theme and takes it back to the swinging seventies. It also has a touch of the Miles Davis 'Kind Of Blue' feel about it - that same laid back atmosphere. There are some female vocals just audible in the background which only add to the seventies kitsch....like a northern Pizzicato Five. Just when you think you have a handle on this album 'Sisämetsä' shows up. Forsaking the more obvious jazz influences for something distinctly more psych. With the brass sounding like panpipes and the mix of acoustic and electric guitars it speaks more of sun burnt South American plains...touches of a heavier Myrrors are evident and is a wonderful track. 'All In All' is the longest track on the album and takes the musical motifs of 'Sisämetsä' and magnifies them tenfold, it is a magnificent number that really could have been taken from a Myrrors album...the same visions of wind blasted, arid landscapes are conjured and then....the vocals appear and the almost instantly the track changes into a sixties psychedelic number...great stuff! 'Afterglow' brings another change in approach, this time the guitars are heavy...as in seventies heavy psych...and some cool electronic effects imbue things with a spacey feel at times. The heavy guitars are replaced by what sounds like a sitar and yet again a move back the heady days of sixties psych....almost a history of psychedelic music in one track! 'Aavaa # 2' closes the album with a return to the drones of 'Mitä On Kätketty Meiltä' with some added acoustic guitar. The drones are rich and dense and provide a suitable close to a wonderful album.

I know some people will read the word jazz and stop reading (jazz is the ultimate in 'marmite' music), well, more fool them. 'In A Brown Study' is a great, great album. There is jazz, personally I like jazz, but it is only a small part of a rich musical tapestry that Soft Power have woven. The standard of the musicianship is supremely high and these guys can turn on sixpence - they go from jazz to psych, from lounge to drone in the twinkling of an eye. Like all great albums this gets better and better on each listening and I strongly urge everyone to listen to this album...ultimately it will not appeal to everyone but those who get it will love it!! The vinyl is released by Huuru Osasto Records (I can't actually find any contact details for them, if I do I will update!) and the download/stream can be found on the band's Bandcamp page.