We have featured Remedies on four or five occasions since they first came to the attention of NMC in March, and in each case it was with a single that has also turned up on this album, ‘Truth for lies’, released on 14th November.
For that reason I’m not going to take a listen to the entire album today but I was adamant that I would at least do so with the title track, ‘Truth for lies’.
In every single one of those earlier releases Remedies succeeded in coming up with a different sound each time. There are ways in which you can identify a duo without knowing it is them performing, for example Sigrid Ryan’s vocal style, soothing and almost childlike at times, the contrasting slight but tangible air of angst and moodiness in some of their songs, the savvy interpretation of the zeitgeist, and Tor Erik Krane Ursin’s classy arrangements of his multi instrumental capabilities.
But you won’t be able to do it because all their songs sound the same. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The full album ‘Truth for lies’ is a concept one that examines the internal conflict of living with truths that we’d rather ignore—and the emotional reckoning that follows when those truths finally surface. I’ll bet half the politicians in the world – and especially some in Washington and London – would qualify for that, but so would some of the readers here. And the writer.
Things that we’d all rather kick into the long grass but can never shake off completely.
Meanwhile this title track zeroes in on how personal gain and power are increasingly pursued at the expense of the truth we once took for granted. Some prefer lies that feel good instead of truths that are hard to hear. ‘Truth for Lies’ is thus about someone who knowingly chooses lies to avoid the discomfort of facing two truths that don’t fit together.
Anyway the wind blows, doesn’t really matter to me…
It’s no surprise that the intro channels the Pink Panther theme because even Inspector Clouseau, or Columbo for that matter, couldn’t prise the truth from some of those characters.
Of course the story could equally live in the social domain, with the TikTok star or the rabid Twitter-er or other social influenster the target for example; the one going where the rhythm takes them, living off goodbyes.
That’s one of the things I most appreciate about Remedies; their lyrics often leave you guessing and drawing your own conclusions and that’s how it should be. Musical lyrics, like poetry, should not be solely in the domain of the writer.
Musically, they have an ability, a rare one, to incorporate alternative fairly soft melodic pop and hard rock in the same song and that is true of ‘Truth for lies’, and that’s what happens here, between verse and chorus and later even within the same verse. And this one even throws in a bit of burlesque mixed in with that rock in the outro.
There aren’t too many that are dabbling in that area. You have to know what you’re doing and Remedies assuredly do.
I mentioned previously in the last few months that there are about half a dozen top Norwegian Indie artists and bands around at the moment, which sadly are not well known here. I have this little dream that I might bring them together for a ‘best of Norway’ showcase here in the UK one day.
If that ever came to fruition I’ve already penciled in the captain on that particular team sheet.
Album score 8/10
(Continues after the Spotify link)
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