Liverpool Sound and Vision 8.5/10
If we have been fortunate in life, at some point we have found ourselves by the seaside, at the fairground, the sand and vast water calling in unison, but the smell of engine oil, of the mechanical thrill capturing our attention as dodgems, penny drops, helter-skelter’s light up the horizon, and the house of reflections, the Funhouse Mirror the stand out opportunity to see how life would shape you if you were caught in a world of misshapes, in a plane of distortion and buckling mis-representation.
The funfair may seem kitsch in today’s modern and faced paced world…but look past other’s cynicism and fingers on the pulse of the technological diversion, and you will find wonders at work, true laughter, sincere memories, prizes won, and mirror images considered, paused over, thought on, and all with sense of growing intrigue bursting out beyond the seams.
Denmark’s Vinyl Floor have tapped into this sense deliberate contemplation, image, and echoes, and in their latest recording, Funhouse Mirror, the chance to experiment, to return to the expression that mark out the duo of framing their vision with a groove that is infectious, and lyrics that are unfailingly humanist in design. The extolling of the poetry shape like words is one of large ensemble like delivery and yet unquestionably a pairing of life.
Across tracks such as Clock With No Hands, Dear Apollon, Pretty Predictable, Death Of A Poet, Days, and the album title track, Funhouse Mirror the duty and honour felt by Daniel and Thomas Charlie Pedersen as they take on the shared vocals, is akin to being serenaded by a much loved dream, the kind which cements the joy to be found when living with the decisions made and the funfair accepted.
With a special addition to the album in the shape of Bob Dylan’s former bass player, Rob Stoner, adding a certain amount of colour to the proceedings, and a sharp decorum in the persuasive multi-instrumentalist Bebe Risenfors having a generous effect on the sound and wisdom of the recordings, Vinyl Floor have created an album that is seismic and beautifully crafted, one that is aware, but one that has succeeded in its return to a time when there was less of a concern for the fear of making a point, and instead one that revels in its own creation.
The seaside is all well and good, but it is the fun of the fair, the unexpected thrill that makes the day out one of abiding memory.
Ian D. Hall