All too often, the vocals, and the lyrics that they deliver, are just something that seems to sit on top of the music. Sure, they move with the sonic ebbs and flows of the dynamic created by the instruments, but they often seem, at best, a fairly separate element and, at worst, an afterthought.
This is why artists such as Niels Rahder, and particularly his latest single, “Mounting Inner Flame,” make for a tantalizing listen; for here, we find someone who, for want of sounding pretentious, uses the vocals as one more available instrument in the musical arsenal, rather than merely to fire off a salvo of words at the listener.
“Mounting Inner Flame” comes from a similar place as the likes of Mazzy Star’s dark and drifting Americana or perhaps Nick Cave’s apocalyptic blues-scapes, a style that sees the vocals and music intertwine, the voice sometimes delivering poignant lyrics, at other times contributing valuable tones and textures.
Haunting is an overused word in music reviews, but there is certainly something primal and otherworldly about the way “Mounting Inner Flame” seems to ooze rather than arrive, seems to be absorbed by the listener, perhaps through some sort of osmosis, rather than the more mundane process of listening.
Dark and delicious, melodic in a mystical way, cinematic and seductive. What a great antidote to the usual awkward counterpoint of most pop and rock music.
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