Pelagos - Revolve

Svart Records

Pelagos is a new Finnish indie rock band formed by Teemu Elo, Petri Hagner and Janne Peltomäki who all were members of the Pori-based cult band Circle in the 90s. Their music is rather different to what Circle has ever done, though. Only the hypnotic elements are similar, but the vibe is much lighter, more atmospheric, electronic and pop-like. Most of the tracks are also rather melancholic. This is their first album following a few digital releases and a compilation cassette.

The album starts off with the very tranquil and beautiful "Code" that has celestial synths, pretty picked guitar and vocoder styled vocals. You get the feeling of flying above a vast ocean on the wings of a seagull. For the last two minutes we also get hypnotic bass and beat as well as some more tasty guitar. Wonderful! "River (Proxima Centauri)" has some late Spacemen 3 / Depeche Mode vibe and but more melody as well. This just might get you dancing. "Island of Pelicans" is one of the most Circle-like tracks but lighter and more mainstream in its sonic structure. Very nice! The instrumental "Aphrodite’s Shore" reminds me of Depeche Mode again a bit and the more acoustic "Invisible" sounds closer to some of Teemu Elo's previous bands like Alien Heat and Puhuvat Eläimet. The vocals are very manipulated and computerized, though. "Sea of Tranquility" is a very emotional, melancholic slow track. The shortest piece on the album is the beautiful and soft "Muted Stars" at 4:27. The last, very atmospheric track "Embryo" is the longest at 7:41 and you can sense some Spacemen 3 vibe in there again. Palagos definitely offers some of the best hypnotic, melancholic modern pop music there is and Revolve is a very enjoyable album that should appeal to fans of several different music styles.

pelagos.bandcamp.com