Depending on exactly how you translate it, Skymningslandet means "twilight land", or possibly sunset/receding. I guess that means we should expect something a little dusky from this group of Swedes - all of whom have been/are involved in other musical ventures alongside Skymningslandet. In truth, there's as much bleary-eyed, daytime light to be found on their self-titled album as anything else, although some songs, such as the spooky closer 'Drömmen' are a little darker. Perhaps most notable, or certainly most immediate, of the songs included is 'Genom fönstret' which opens the album by digging into space-rock and instrumental psychedelia, all with classical undertones of an eerie nature (perhaps think Bach or Handel) which continue through a sizable chunk of the album.
It's a similar story with 'Mortimer', another of the more uptempo tracks that sits at the crossroads between prog and psychedelia, but once again with that haunting organ sound throughout. As we get to the heart of 'Skymningslandet', essentially from 'Ballongen' to 'Hit men inte längre', the pace drops and for the most part so does the haunted atmosphere; the former track in particular being lighter in tone and perhaps more suited to a sunrise than sunset. The second of the aforementioned pair of songs is again lighter in texture even if the music retains the creepy organ and lets it play over a loose groove.
The very centre of the record couldn't exactly be described as a low, at least not in terms of quality, but it is perhaps less engaging upon first listen than the rest, preferring to deliver well-composed ambient pieces, with 'Skylar' in particular fitting this description. It flows neatly into 'Under Vattnet' which introduces a slightly rougher edge thanks to some buzzing guitar, but that atmosphere remains much the same, preventing the album becoming fractured. If you had to pick one song to sum up the sound of 'Skymningslandet' in one go, then 'Skimmer' would be your best bet, being an amalgamation of all we've heard from them so far. Instrumental albums, especially those with ambient leanings, can often be a little dull, but there's more than enough here to get stuck into.
Skymningslandet's website
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