Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10
Travel broadens the mind, of that there is arguably no greater virtue to bestow upon the individual, the acceptance that the world is so much greater that they could ever hope to be and yet being determined enough to at least scratch a little of its incredible surface is be assured that something artistic or creative will come of it. Whether it is the rocky hills that hove into view as they germinate like wild forests on the plains or the scenic tranquillity of a lush lake huddling the neighbourhoods of a big city, whatever the reason, it is best to welcome the opportunity with open arms, good grace and the feeling of being in the open air.
It is this good grace that captures the music supplied by Kyrre Slind in his new album Open Airs, an album that relies completely on the instrumental offerings in the album to guide the listener through the procession of songs that act as a journal, an unspoken diary but one filled with desire, thoughts of love for far off lands and the reminisce into what drove the artist on in the first place.
The album is the taste of the open air with strings attached, the lute playing with a certain longing, a burgeoning deliciousness, open guitars and the injection of rugged delicate inspiration. It is the sound of dreams masquerading as all out differences in the terrain, of peaceful lucidity in the imagination and all the while the trap is set for something bigger to come along. The fiend in the undergrowth isn’t quite caught on the album but it has been stung by the flight of a caressed guitar.
Tracks such as the opener Oysterhaven, Gaupskaret, Sandra’s Melody, and Under Water allow Kyrre Slind to offer simplicity and divinity in one arc of music and the touch, the gentleness of spirit is not lost upon the listener as they take in the deliberation of scenery in between each well played note.
A piece of music to stretch out time with, to while-a-way the hour between the storm and the growl of modern life, Open Airs is the album in which the journey becomes virtuous.
Ian D. Hall