Brace yourselves for a fiery saxophone explosion! Norwegian deathrock troika, Outer Limit Lotus, have unveiled an avant-garde video for the sultry “Let the Night Ride You Home.” Immersed in the essence of Nordic Noir, the song is a convergence of summer and autumn, sun-eclipsed beaches, shrouded in an enigmatic allure. This is the essence of multifaceted rock.
The album’s musical inspirations weave a tapestry as diverse and intriguing as the dim-lit corners of a punk club, sampling a smorgasbord of influences. Some tracks echo the haunting resonance of Norwegian black metal maestros like Emperor and Darkthrone, while others nod to the ethereal orchestration of Angelo Badalamenti. An amusing anecdote from the album’s creation: while the trio was engrossed in the final mix of “Let The Night Ride You Home,” Ulver’s Kristoffer Rygg happened to be recording next door. Upon a chance encounter, Rygg immediately dubbed the sound as ‘dark Roxy Music.’
The just-released video, a homage to the multifaceted world of goth, gloriously harmonizes both sonic and visual aesthetics. Paying homage to cult classics such as The Hunger, various horror B-movies, and emblematic performance videos from the golden age of the 1980s, this single is a nostalgic ride through the darker lanes of music and film.
Watch the video below:
From the shadowy alcoves of gothic garage reverberations to the swirling complexities of psychedelic rock, Oslo’s Outer Limit Lotus (Henrik Øiestad Myrvold, Vebjørn Guttormsgaard Mellberg, Øystein Wyller Odden) have continually toyed with the boundaries of music genres. Their latest opus, “Dazzling Darkness,” is a testament to their bold progression, marking a definitive plunge into the expansive domain of cinematic freedom rock. The track resonates as an icy riposte to the sun-drenched sounds of American West Coast rock from the 60s, instilling a fascinating sonic contrast. The band expertly draws from filmic inspirations akin to the mesmerizing scores of Angelo Badalamenti and Henry Mancini, effectively painting a rich, auditory movie scene within their music.
Their music is also interspersed with the spacious, sonic landscapes that echo the melancholic beauty of Tears for Fears, The Cure, No Wave, Durutti Column and a-ha, “Dazzling Darkness” is a masterful exploration of aural dimensions. It’s a track that, true to its name, illuminates the dense, intricate tapestry of their sound with a captivating, luminescent intensity.
“If there is an overall theme for the Dazzling Darkness album, it has to be the ambiguity of the dark and the unknown,” says the band. “Is it just a void that swallows you whole, or is it a pitch black ocean of endless possibilities? We borrowed the title from Joni Mitchell’s song Shine, where she is singing: ‘Shine on the dazzling darkness / that restores us in deep sleep / Shine on what we throw away / and what we keep.’ The title in itself contains this ambiguity, that the darkness can be dazzling is maybe a contradiction, but also a message of hope and understanding. The lyrics are inspired by gothic lore and haunted house movies, but also takes inspiration from dream interpretation, meditation practice and mountain hiking.”
The band started recording the album during the early days of the covid pandemic, and because of that, the studio process turned out to be a much longer affair than first anticipated. While exhausting for the members, they did find – and took – an opportunity to explore the musical details of the songs. Many guest musicians also contributed to the album: Signe Emmeluth (Emmeluth’s Amoeba, Bonanza of Doom), Trond Mjøen (Euroboys, Haraball, Ulver), Chiara Cavallari (FOAMMM, Draümar, E), Ingvild Nærum (E, Are you having fun yet?), Eirik Ørevik Aadland (Mokri, Spurv, Glutton), Jørn Tore Egseth (Phaedra, Hanne Kolstø), Pål Bredrup (Okkultokrati, Haust), and Ane Marthe Sørlien Holen (Pinquins, Moe, Ensemble neoN).
Order Dazzling Darkness here.
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