Arabrot – Of Darkness And Light – CD

Digipak

There is a timelessness to the music of Arabrot; just as you think you have pinpointed an influence or reference point, it will escape your grasp, twisting and turning in unexpected directions, shaping a sound that is truly unique. The last two decades have seen Arabrot shapeshift through multiple iterations; they’ve tried on different shapes and sizes, encompassed different moods and explored the outer reaches of various genres and yet never sounded less than entirely themselves. 2023 heralds the arrival of their tenth album “Of Darkness And Light” – a cause for celebration. The flamboyant Kjetil Nernes has been the core and the constant of Arabrot, and for some time now another heart has beat alongside his in perfect unison. A partner in life, love and music, Karin Park has contributed to Arabrot to varying degrees for ten years, and on the new album her presence is both solidified and amplified. The pair live together in a church in the Swedish village where Karin grew up, designing their own domain within which they nurture their children, their craft and their creative visions, in their own house/church as studio. “Of Darkness And Light” took a long time to take shape and become a whole. Kjetil’s prolific songwriting ability meant that some songs had been tucked away for years, waiting for the perfect time and environment to bloom. Others were written with more urgency in the months leading up to the album’s production. They got the American Alain Johannes on board to join them to record the new songs at their own studio (the Djura Missionshus Church) in Sweden for a month. Besides an upcoming producer Alain is an accomplished musician himself (a.o. PJ Harvey, Queens Of The Stone Age, Mark Lanegan, Eleven, Them Crooked Vultures), and he was able to connect well and achieved to get, under the electrifying veneer of shimmering synths and sophisticated sparkle, an upbeating heavy rock heart in the new music of Arabrot. You can expect 10 blistering, catchy and gloriously anthemic rock songs and experience an electrifying richness of their sound with ofcourse their characteristic sinister and theatrical elements!

1. Hangman’s House
2. You Cast Long Shadows
3. Horrors of the Past
4. Madness
5. Cathedral Light
6. We Want Blood
7. Fire!
8. Skeletons Trip the Light Fantastic
9. Swan Killer
10. Love Under Will