Hakon Adalsteinsson has been pursuing his musical vision over a number of years via a number of different bands and central to it has been The Third Sound, who have released 6 albums so far and created a unique and recognisable sound and style.
Latest album ‘Most Perfect Solitude’, again on Fuzz Club records, fits perfectly within that sonic vision but at the same time introduces new dimensions to the sound and feel. This album casts a much brighter shadow and at times feels more upbeat …but never fear there are still deep dark moments…
Current single ‘On Returning’ typifies the more radiant touch, still misted with a slight melancholy but shimmering and more positive in feel, an inspiring dreamy wash of sound. ‘Another Time Another Place’ complements it, jangly kaleidoscopic dream pop full of hope and dreams. On tracks like these they are at their most exuberant and energised.
‘Catch Fire’ and ‘Veiled’ sit well together; both are timeless stirring epics, doomed love songs with a cinematic edge that can transport you to another place. There are of course darker, more traditionally post punk elements but even they have a new twist; ‘Don’t Look Back’ is a mid-paced bass driven keyboard infused burner, wounded but uplifting with an almost mid-80s velvet and paisley goth pop feel. ‘Shooting Star’ goes even further into that territory and takes the soaring psychedelia down to another place, buried in shadows and dominated by a heroic bass line and searing ascending guitar. ‘Wasteland’ wallows in more familiar decadent Third Sound territory, grinding guitars and pounding drums; a narcotic claustrophobic haze…
The band seem to have emerged from the depths into a (slightly!) brighter place; there’s a real variety on this album – from trademark evocative post punk to flourishing psychedelic pop and rousing goth pop but also faint whispers of country and folk floating almost out of reach. That might all sound a bit too eclectic, but with Hakon’s distinctive baritone vocal style it is all unmistakeably The Third Sound, and all hangs together beautifully. It is drenched in that special grandeur that they seem to bring to every album, a unique downbeat melancholy that somehow gives strength and feels purifying. They’ve put out a lot of great music over the last decade and a half, but for me this is the best one yet… and it almost sounds like they’re having fun. Almost!
Lots of tour dates coming up in Europe soon – time to head for Fuzz Club Eindhoven right now! – and the UK later in the year.
Gary Powell, May 2024
