Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Morso
Label: Dallas Records
Released: 2013
Length: 47:23
Rating: 4.5/5
Morso are an alternative rock regiment from Rijeka, back on the scene after five years with their second studio album »Škare Krede Najlon«. Their debut »Izlog« was one of the nicest surprises the Croatian music scene served up in 2008, so high hopes for what the new album has in store are absolutely justified!
Morso are a seven-piece. What sets them apart is the two vocalists, one female and one male. It’s a key element that comes through brilliantly and weaves together chemically in the songs, and it’s what Morso build their musical identity on. The debut “Izlog” offered a glimpse of a band that draws, on one side, on the musical legacy laid down by the Rijeka new wave, and then blends that superbly with modern takes on alternative rock, as understood by indie rock acts like Interpol and/or Editors, so retro soundscapes of classic mid-eighties synthesizers are no surprise at all. On top of all that they pinned a strong pop label, happily falling back on simple dance steps and infectious chorus melodies.
The band is very experienced and leaves nothing to chance. They have a strict, clearly defined focus on their own musical vision, and they stand firmly behind it as songwriters. So for the new album, too, they wanted to squeeze out the very best of themselves. They sent the material off for finalization (final mastering) to New York and the West West Side Music studio there, handled by Alan Douches, a member of indie rockers Yeasayer. So this was also their way of catching the sonic trend of 2013!
»Izlog« was considered a dark album with a distinctly alternative sound, where it wasn’t hard to tell that the crew had grown up under the influence of post-punk bands and the new wave sounds of the eighties. Of course, they repackaged all that after the Rijeka way of understanding rock n’ roll and effectively pointed out the quirks of their artistry. The new album »Škare krede najlon« partly eliminates the debut’s heavy guitar load. Morso also turn much more to painting the soundscape with synthesizers, and their »experimental dealings« with extra programmed samples become more recognizable too. That’s why the new album feels even more pop-leaning. An important element boosting that feeling is its brighter, more positive outlook. If the previous album only now and then breathed a bit of pop cosmetics, the new one is downright soaked in it (just look at the opener Hodamo unatrag, or Žene grizu shortly after).Smiješ se bolesno nails a stunning yield of melodic catchiness, and in its captured synth pop electronics paradigm, the song carries a faint whiff of the golden age of the eighties, where their older Rijeka countrymen Denis & Denis could have reached for similar ideas in another place and time! Then there’s the brilliant Mijenjaš lice – a song with typical eighties synth pop new wave arrangements, yet soaked in modern production, echoing with a special sentiment. That’s precisely the basic charm of the band’s artistry. They start from eighties cues but add modern sonic tricks. The end result is a special and unmistakable musical character. With the new album the band grows evolutionarily and nurtures its own songwriting identity. In fact, the new album simply cements their unmistakable label on the scene. The album doesn’t let up on its highly infectious moments as it runs. The second half keeps the same momentum going thanks (in compositional terms) to an especially strong song like Najlon with its new ultra-hooky chorus.
The album carries a modern indie rock sound, soaked in a strong pop label. The building blocks of the sound picture are dynamically woven into this kind of musical macramé. The contrasts between the hook-laden rhythmic kinetics and the vocal male-female duets are strongly emphasized in the production. Most of the backing floats on tastefully dynamic coloring with curtains of keyboards, which bring a strong retro flavor of eighties synthesizer sound!
The album is carefully polished. Both in arrangement and production. It’s extremely infectious, yet it carries a strong backbone of artistry that won’t stand for superficiality or half-measures. It’s an album of short, tightly measured arranging moves. In those respects it builds on the debut »Izlog«. »Škare krede najlon« is the album where Morso, on their musical evolution, sharpen the core coordinates of their artistry even further. The album where they came of age.
Lineup
Stanislav Grdaković – vocals
Ivana Bartolović – vocals
Darko Terlević – keyboards, backing vocals
Nikola Mesarek – bass guitar
Matej Zec – guitar, programmed loops
Hrvoje Brzić – programmed loops
Ivan Bojčić – drums
Production
Matej Zec
Tracklist
1. Hodamo unatrag
2. Sram 1862
3. Žene grizu
4. Plava
5. Mijenjaš lice
6. Smiješ se bolesno
7. Guliver
8. Krede
9. Najlon
10. Zvijer
11. Hodamo unatrag (Repriza)
