With a mutual background in cinema and animation Sander Strick and Marc van den Boom started making a record. Both are from Eindhoven, the town where big multinational Philips produced its first light bulb. The band Woldendale was formed, named after British astronomer Arnold Wolfendale. In an old Philips building they put down a studio to write and record songs. After they got signed by V2 Benelux the album was finished by no one less that Joe LaPorta, who has worked with Foo Fighters and Vampire Weekend in the past. The result is Foghorn, named after the first line in the mysterious David Lynch TV series 'Twin Peaks' from the nineties: "The lonesome foghorn blows", spoken by Pete Martell, a character played by Jack Nance.
Wolfendale - Foghorn (Ronald Says 8 out of 10)
And so we run into the cinematic background of the duo everywhere. Since not only the album's title, but everything in their music is breathing cinema. And this movie world that they created is mysterious and dark. In a clever way they patiently use their musical landscapes to shape this world. As they put it themselves: "Music that's looking for dusk instead of sunlight". And for that matter the title was chosen effectively. It raises images of misty landscapes and twilight worlds, a mystical fantasy world, with a little surprise behind every tree. Master filmmaker Lynch couldn't have thought it up any better.
The music if full of variation; progrock-like pieces are alternating with more jazzy and folk-like songs. It reminds of Pink Floyd, Radiohead and sometimes Motorpsycho too. But the atmosphere is always the binding factor on the album. The highlights are mostly in the first part of the record. Dreamy guitars in 'Dr. Henry Kazoo', the beautiful 'Red Sparrow' that fluently transforms into title track 'Foghorn'. And then the wonderful 'Ending Up' with its nice harmonies. The sound effects complete and intensify the the atmospere even more.
Like a ship that slowly moves through the fog, passes Foghorn steadily along. With closed eyes you perceive a foghorn in the distance through the splashing water. David Lynch could come up with a movie for it easily. Every spin discloses new discoveries. Wolfendale is a worthy addition to the Dutch music catalogue with international potential. They could even make to the elite league of the Dutch music scene.
This review has been published on ROAR E-Zine in Dutch over here.
Listen to 'Keep You Close' on Spotify.
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