GIVE ME BEAUTY... OR GIVE ME DEATH !

For about the last two years or so, I have been thoroughly impressed with the music I have heard coming out of Scandinavia. Norwegians bands Gazpacho and Wobbler immediately spring to mind. So it came as little surprise to me when I found something perhaps equally impressive coming from the eastern half of the Scandinavian Peninsula.

Ef's somewhat banally titled Give Me Beauty... Or Give Me Death has one of those album covers that immediately call you to attention. Thankfully it is more than just a pretty box. GMBOGMD... God that's awful acronym, I digress. Give Me Beauty's delicately surreal doves, are perfectly evocative of the sonic treasures which lie within. It is stunningly powerful and stark album which seems at times, light enough to lift you right off your feet and at other times whose driving walls of sound crash on you like the North Atlantic. The opener Ett is I think perhaps the most singularly beautiful track I have in my entire music collection.

This isn't quite a perfect album mind you. The effete singing, which is thankfully not present throughout, is a bit too meek for my tastes and at odds with the uplifting quality of Give Me Beauty. Some parts, are too plain and others too long winded. None of these factors detract from the allure of its better moments though.

This is a great album for quiet moments of solitude and though I've only heard it during the summer strikes me as an album for winter. It's sparse beauty will feel right at home during a bright day in the chill of Calgary winter. Excellent album, 4 out of 5.