S-M Backwards

by Serena Maneesh

Overview

Serena Maneesh's 2005 debut album was an impressive work of neo-shoegaze, neo-noise rock that seemed to come out of nowhere -- unless you lived in Norway or were hip enough to hear either of the two EPs that preceded the record, that is. Released in 2002, Fixxations caught a lighter, less epic-sounding band able to rip off a super pretty pop song like "Drive Me Home the Lonely Nights," choogle through the tough rocker "Blues Like Beehive," or drift through the spacy "Ballad of Jezebel" like a disciple of Sonic Boom. Only on "Oxygen, Please!" did they hint at the noise explosion that would soon follow. Mostly the group sounded like a sprightly, good-natured version of Medicine, which is not a bad goal at all. Zurueck, though it came out after Fixxations, contained material recorded between 1999 and 2003. It also showcased a less focused, more experimental side of the band; from the ambient soundscape of "Introspection" and the dreamlike haze of "Leipziger Love" (both recorded in 2001) to the noisy recorded-in-one-raw-take "Degenerate" and the droning but lovely "Never," the band seemed less interested in crafting songs than in creating sound and mood. Put the two EPs together and you have a pretty good template for the album that followed. In 2008 Smalltown Supersound released S-M Backwards, a double-disc set housing both EPs plus bonus mixes of many of the songs and an unreleased track, the creepy and atmospheric "Death Parade, Slow." The mixes are interesting but not revelatory. Kramer cleans up and adds some sparkle to "Drive Me Home the Lonely Nights," the duo of Daniel C. Smith and Emyle give "Hear Bleed Phil Harmonic" a Robin Guthrie-ish sheen and rough up "Sehnsucht/Drag Me Upstairs" with some truly ugly guitar sounds, and Christopher Colbert stretches "Leipziger Love" into an epic-length ambient guitar jam. The mixes are a nice addition, but the two EPs could really stand on their own as twin building blocks of the Serena Maneesh sound. Smalltown Supersound has done fans of the band and of the modern shoegaze sound a huge favor by putting them together and putting them out, extras or no. ~ Tim Sendra

Product Details

Release Date:	05/17/2024
UPC:	7059136220991
Rank:	120514

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Serena Maneesh   Primary Artist
Arve Peder Paulson   Flute
Mari Sandvaer   Vocals (Background)
Anna Lina Victoria Holmstrom   Bass,Organ,Vocals
Emil Nikolaisen   Vocals,Guitar
Lars Kristian   Trumpet
Marko   Drums
Sondre Tristan Midttun   Guitar
Marcus Forsgren   Guitar
Thor Eivind Nordgarden   Voices
Havard Krogedal   Bass,Organ
Ole Johannes Aleskjaer   Vocal Harmony

Technical Credits

Nat Damm   Artwork
Dave Larring   Mixing
Kim Hiorthoy   Layout Design
Arve Peder Paulson   Group Member
Ola Brattas   Video
K.O. Melau   Photography
Frode Stromstad   Supervisor
Harald Froland   Group Member
Emil Nikolaisen   Instrumentation,Group Member,Composer,Arranger
Daniel C. Smith   Mixing
Johnny Skalleberg   Mixing
Christian Engfelt   Mixing
Anna Lina Victoria Holmstrom   Composer,Group Member
Lindsey Stupica   Photography
Eva Malene Nilsen   Photography
Ingar Hunskaar   Mastering
Sondre Tristan Midttun   Group Member
Paul Hammond   Mastering
Christopher Wiitala   Photography
Paul Sinclair   Mastering
Jonathan Forsythe   Photography
Marcus Forsgren   Group Member
Thor Eivind Nordgarden   Group Member
Havard Krogedal   Arranger,Group Member
Asle Stromstad   Supervisor
Ole Johannes Aleskjaer   Group Member
Christopher Colberg   Mixing,Engineer
Morten Andersen   Photography