THE RECOMMENDER – NIKI AND THE DOVE

NIKI AND THE DOVE

If you like your pop music to be cool and glacial, yet draped in effortless theatrical brilliance, then wrap your ears around this new Swedish group, fronted by Malin Dahlstrom.  Comparisons to Bat For Lashes will no doubt follow, for Malin manages to pull the same trick as Natasha Kahn – like she’s writing from another world, luring you into a soundscape of drama and cinematic majesty.  It’s mystical and ethereal, but never dull and on tracks such as DJ, Ease My Mind you get a sweeping chorus so overblown it would make the performers on the Eurovision Song Contest re-consider their applications.  Malin also demonstrates precisely how rounded her skills are on tracks such as Winterheart, where you get bubbles alongside the atmosphere, handing a perfect slice of slow pop cake that’s as easy to digest as whipped cream.  Much in the same direction that The Knife and IAmAmIWhoAmI aim their musical arrows, there’s much owed to the Liz Fraser/Cocteau Twins school of song craft, with pop that’s as cold as thin ice, and just as delicate.  Frigorific music such as this can often leave the listener a little detached, but Malin’s lyrics provide a voice that calls at you through the snowstorm, luring you onwards, until each track warms you like a rewarding wine. Percussion is occasionally laid on quite heavily, like a hundred of the Emperor’s drummers, but they’re theatrics are deliberately meant to be like a stage production, which is no more evidenced than the playful videos that have circled around in recent weeks.  We expect Malin to adorn costumes and giant headdresses when performing, as this type of music could never be the same if not delivered with overblown panache, but there’s no tour on offer quite yet, so follow the Recommender’s tweets for more information. Their debut single is a double A-side and was released on August 30th on the Moshi Moshi label.  Allow the curtain to lift for the next 15 minutes by sifting through the below mp3s and videos.

Find them here:        Myspace

Hear them here:        NIKI AND THE DOVE – UNDER THE BRIDGES

Hear them here:        NIKI AND THE DOVE – WINTERHEART

Hear them here:        NIKI AND THE DOVE – DJ, EASE MY MIND