Erik K Skodvin: Afterwar (digital, Miasmah, August 2024)

Skodvin has been a favourite in these parts for yonks, whether under his own name, as Svarte Greiner, or as half of Deaf Center. This short is album of short tracks, 9 of them in 23 minutes. His juddering strings and floating analogue synths are at their darkly atmospheric best, and supplemented here by sighing, wordless vocals — provided by Katrine Grarup Elbo, who also plays violin. This is a ‘mini-soundtrack’ to a ‘docu-fiction hybrid film set in Kosovo — filmed over 15 years, which deals with the aftermath of war’. I haven’t seen that, of course, but it definitely makes sense. The music slowly grows in intensity over the course of the record, and the last track (called It’s Better Asleep, and officially feat.ing Elbo) is utterly bewitching (and check out that video, with its static camera and what I think is a super-slow focus pull which makes it just breathe very slightly).

I bought this on the artist’s bandcamp page.