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Aug 19, 2019 Web Exclusive By Austin Trunick

Crafty Swedes Amason have remained relatively quiet since 2015’s debut album Sky City, but they’re making up for lost time with plans to rapid fire release two albums in a row.

Galaxy I‘s first two singles pick up where their acclaimed debut left off. “You Don’t Have to Call Me” is a beautiful, slow-burning showcase for Amanda Bergman’s gorgeous vocals, with stripped back accompaniment allowing them to shine. In contrast on the record’s most sublime pop cut, “Marry Me Just For Fun,” her warm voice is backed with the sort of dreamy synth soundscape that you could crawl up and live inside. It’s in the album tracks where the band steps out with a handful of more radical songs. “Hit the Bottom First” has a chorus that sounds like it’s sung by a choir of Smurfs, and enters a sort of acoustic uncanny valley. Other artists are described as having an otherworldly sound, but it’s experimental choices like this that make Amason’s music feel fresh in an era where everything can feel like it’s been done before. The record stumbles near its middle with “Samlaren,” a jarringly upbeat Swedish pop number. The problem isn’t that it’s not sung by Bergman—neither is “Tre Karameller” and that one fits in just fine—but because the track’s tone is so at odds with its surroundings. In its current placement, it’s like someone accidentally switched your chilliest playlist to the one you save for when you hit the gym.

Galaxy I is the first part of a peculiar album rollout, and will be followed by its sequel/other half—Galaxy II—sometime in 2020. This is pure conjecture at this point, but we have to wonder if they’re two very good albums that could/should have been pruned down and consolidated into one outstanding, fuller-length release. (Galaxy I only runs 36 minutes, including its moody instrumental outro.) They’ll probably prove us wrong when they release its second half and the experimental chop job suddenly makes perfect sense, but one can’t help but speculate up until Part II arrives. (www.amasonband.com)

Author rating: 6.5/10