Under Byen is Danish for "Below the City." The band has always had a mysterious, subterranean sound, but their name has never felt more appropriate than it does on their fourth album, Alt Er Tabt. It's a dark, tense record full of spartan arrangements and songs built more around moody atmosphere than melodic hooks. Almost every instrument and voice on the record is covered in a layer of grime, and the result of all these filthy sounds rubbing together is oddly beautiful. More remarkable is the fact that, a mere two years ago, Under Byen seemed poised to broaden the scope of their sound on the Siamesisk mini-album, which was recorded with a chamber orchestra.
Beyond my confounded expectations, Alt Er Tabt's unnerving throb initially put me off-- there seemed to be little going on behind the texture. But a few subsequent listens revealed an album that's hard to get out of your head once you've given yourself over to it. Under Byen convey a sense of forward motion with very few conventional beats, using a knowledge of harmony and interlocking instrumental patterns to accomplish a task normally relegated to a drum kit. The gothic claustrophobia of Henriette Sennenvaldt's weirdly processed and chorused vocals (entirely in Danish) serves as a sort of central spine around which the band can pivot, at times locking in on complex patterns and at others letting the patterns fall away in favor of a brief moment of light.
One of the most haunting elements of the music is Anders Stochholm's harmonica, which is employed only occasionally but always effectively. He uses it to create an extremely elemental sound at the climax of "Unoder", a song that creeps and scrapes along, pushed forward by repetitive phrases until the harmonica blares out a strangely joyful and simple tune. The moment is a turning point, as the song is subsequently overwhelmed by frenzied violin and cello, playing a theme that sounds like a Philip Glass soundtrack to a crossing of the River Styx.
It's these shifts and sudden moments, when the band gives you a glimmer to latch onto, that ultimately make Alt Er Tabt a good, even special album. Under Byen give themselves over completely to a particular way of doing things, in the process crafting an album whose utter strangeness is arresting and whose consistency of vision is impressive.
