If I had discovered it in its year of release HUSKY RESCUE’S debut album ‘Country Falls’ would have been in my Top 20 releases of 2004. Essentially one man – Marko Nyberg – this Helsinki outfit has a live crew of five including the sweetly voiced Reeta-Leena Korhola who graces main track ‘City Lights’ (also on the album) for this EP. If you haven’t already discovered HUSKY RESCUE and are lovers of acts like Air then beat a hasty path to your nearest purveyor of silvery beer mats (or alternatively your favourite download destination) and grace yourself with a copy of the album.
‘City Lights’ shares the same cool, melancholic melody-rich poignancy of tracks like ‘Cherry Blossom Girl’ but is still a uniquely beautiful piece of music in its own right with a personality and character all of its own. Unlike Air, HUSKY RESCUE’S laid-back atmosphere is, understandably, less an expression of Gallic sang-froid and more a cinematic soundtrack for the wintry landscape of their homeland. This is music for taxi rides through city streets in the wee small hours of a cold but clear January morning.
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The PRODUCT 01 remix blows away the glacial air of the original for a mechanised crunch and scrape that is easy to admire but harder to love. VECTOR LOVER’S remix redesigns the mellowness of the original adding new soft textures with its acoustic guitar and atmospheric flourishes, losing some of the icy magic but uncovering the warmth beneath the snow. The woozy bolero of new track ‘Last Dance’ evokes the desperation of a jilted lover, its maudlin coda reflecting their loss and demanding our sympathy.
One to cherish.
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