The debut album from Copenhagen-based Norwegian duo
Smerz follows two EPs of warped art-pop which intertwined abstract R&B with fractured club music. Not quite as house-influenced as
Okey or as gritty and distorted as
Have Fun, the full-length
Believer is a major expansion of
Smerz's sound, with much more open, spacious arrangements and an almost symphonic sense of pacing. On early standout "Max," the duo place stark, yearning vocals in front of detached synths, breaking for a few bombastic melodic swells. The wobbly, uneasy "Believer" is
Shygirl-esque industrial hip-hop that unexpectedly blossoms with chamber music string arrangements, which shine brighter on the airier, more bump-and-grindy "Rain." "Hester" is one of the album's more heart-racing tracks, with gated trance arpeggios underpinned by tumbling drum'n'bass breakbeats, suddenly stopping dead in front of a lonesome spiral of strings. "I don't talk about that much" similarly weds tense arpeggios to jittery beats, this time adding confessional, anxiety-riddled lyrics, resulting in one of the album's most gripping tracks. There's clearly a lot of potential to the duo's ambitious fusion of modern classical, R&B, and experimental club styles. ~ Paul Simpson
