The inspiration for Bergen comes from right across Europe. They may be named after a picturesque city on the coast of Norway, but the two members, Nicola Galati and Alberto Bagarello hail from Italy. Nicola calls Venice home, but only part of the time as he studies at Glasgow School Of Art. During 2012 he and Alberto decided to join forces and work on some music together, the result being the 'Bergen' EP, an expansive dreampop record that brings the vistas of Norway, Scotland and Italy together in a wonderfully enlivening way; a quartet of songs that would be perfectly at home with such backdrops behind them.
Centred around soft guitar and synths, beats are brought in to add rhythm and life as much as to create a more sturdy sound. 'Mirrors' has the vibe of vintage indie in the way it jangles and the ghostly vocals merge to almost become part of the instrumentation. There's a livelier sound to 'Wakeup', this time the beats are to the fore and the guitars also more prominent. It moves them away from the dreampop sound, but only slightly; it's still quite soft focus. The overall impression is a reflective one, looking back on a past that can never be recaptured. 'Dancing In The Garden' has a harsher edge, but again this is such a subtle change it's barely worth mentioning. An ode to home comes at the end with 'Veniceland' and doesn't fluctuate from the formula very much, but it doesn't need to, they've got a fine sound as it is.
Bergen's website
Stream or download the EP
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