Based in Malmö, Sweden, Den Osynliga Manteln (The Invisible Cloak) comprises producer duo Ola Sandberg and Fredrik Grönvall.
They describe their intention as making albums that tell stories and make journeys through textures and soundscapes of fictional places and spaces. With one foot in the past and the other in the future, the music is created to conjure both nostalgia and activate the imagination of what’s not yet here, touching both the known and the unknown.
If Under Grön Himmel has an apocalyptic feel, it's reflective of our tumultuous times which pulled the music into a different and darker post-pandemic territory than their stunning debut. "Insekstfolk" (CiS, August 2021).
The title translates to "Under Green Skies" which points to the melancholy but also, the potential beauty of our doomsday. The fever dream depicts an alternate reality, a different planet, some kind of shift. A turbulent place, a fugue state, a death of sorts.
At the same time there’s a psychedelic undertone to the record, a transformational arc spanning from the first hiss to the last. The titles of the songs align with this theme, translating roughly as "Glitter Mountains", "Purple Forest", "Movement of the Hills", "Triple Moon", "The Planet Whisperer" and "Triple Sun"
An array of analog synthesizers and electrical organs rescued from flea markets meets tape hiss, saxophones and a hidden vibraphone. Drum kits, electric bass and guitars, the occasional vocals dubbed with an eighty year old piano and glittering bells. Under Grön Himmel has layers of dust from the distant past yet it arrives here in a polished chrome vessel from the future. It's like Neu! broke out the jazz chords and the whole album has an un-graspable quality that's hard to define. Like a benevolent psychedelic mist, it’s here to hold you at the end of times and celebrate its beauty.
Embrace the abyss.
CiS143
credits
released October 15, 2023
Under Grön Himmel was created and recorded in Malmö by Den Osynliga Manteln.
Vibraphone on Kullarnas Flytt by Jakob Klang.
Mix and artwork by Ola Sandberg.
Mastered by Darren Page for usuper.bandcamp.com
Den Osynliga Manteln are Ola Sandberg and Fredrik Grönvall. Both Ola and Fredrik were born and raised in southern Sweden and are currently living in Malmö. Insektsfolk is their debut LP.
supported by 91 fans who also own “Under Grön Himmel”
This is very close to what I heard/felt everytime we visited the grandparents in Runcorn.
Ominous dread. Bleak dystopia. Concrete and terraced houses. Plus the air smells! MonkeyMajiks
supported by 79 fans who also own “Under Grön Himmel”
Such a great idea translating stamps into music. Four brilliant tracks hotter than a Bunsen burner flame. I would love to see this issued on vinyl. roblove1