The four-piece ‘art rock band’ from Helsinki, Spotless Souls, seem to have a thing about oddball romances.
Last time out, on ‘In the heat’ they put the instantaneous attraction of two women who meet by chance on the dance floor under the spotlight. From there they gravitate rapidly into an underground world where there’s a party going on; one that’s about people, freedom and desire…
Now they return with an ode to ‘Rosemary’, which concerns a doomed summer romance, a wistful, intoxicating one set amidst infatuation and its “naïve destruction.”
“I birthed the end between us” observes singer Alina Kolehmainen and in one universe that’s all it amounts to; a separation between the makers and the made. In another it could be a better outcome or lead to far worse.
Rosemary’s baby has many potential manifestations and not only demonic ones.
It is the preserve of the very young to imagine old relationships in new ways or at least to present them so. ‘Rosemary’ is a slow burner of a thing that could be another way of telling the story of Squeeze’s immortal ‘Up the Junction’ five decades on and I’m sure Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook would love it.
So they sound like Mazzy Star. Pfff. Hope would be delighted.
These are smart kids with something to say. Two songs in and they’ve already got me thinking of them winning prizes –Teosto perhaps, or the Nordic Music Prize, or even the Polar Prize. Like, quite soon.
This week I chanced on the earliest known photo of Marilyn Monroe, modeling a pair of shorts on a beach, aged 17.
When I see these teenagers, with the same look of innocence on their face in the press shots I wonder if they will soon have their own Marilyn moment?
(Just stay away from the Kennedys).
I have to say something about the video, too. There are some sublime moments in it. The use of mime to underscore this imaginary world; the way the male character’s lingering ends and he almost imperceptibly moves away. The enchanting tiny smile developing on Alina’s face before the cheekbone can’t hide it any longer.
And the revelation of those brown eyes that will always be her secret weapon.
Find them on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573284929057
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spotless.souls/
Bandcamp: https://spotlesssouls.bandcamp.com/
