The impressive debut EP from Norwegian duo Schau.Schou, January stirs in its wintry atmospherics — infusing dreamy backing vocal harmonies, soft acoustic strums, and piano-touched intrigue. The collaborative project of Kristopher Schau and Christoffer Schou, Schau.Schou crafted the EP in the middle of a Norwegian winter, and compel in delivering themes of stillness and emotional distance, alternating melancholy and reassurance in capturing life’s ebbs and flows.
“Don’t worry, you’re not lost,” a reassuring vocal warmth lets out amidst gentle piano and acoustic trickles on opening track “Follow the water,” a mellow yet impactful stunner. Haunting, wordless vocal harmonies bolster the magnetic title-bearing refrain, continuing to expand beautifully as tender guitar strums complement the beckoning to “now close your eyes, have no fear / because it is safe for you to die here.” Schau.Schou’s ability to craft immersive soundscapes with emotively resonating intrigue — here suggesting an end-of-days guideship — is evident right away with “Follow the water” and continues throughout this excellent EP.
The ensuing “In the dark” enamors with crisp guitar jangling and vocals that appear to embrace capriciousness, letting out “there’s nothing you can do, to stop this happening to you” and referencing the impact of when one “puts the lights out.” The guitars maintain a steady pace throughout, with the added backing vocal reflections in the second half contributing a brightly melodic flair. Another standout track, “Barely holding on” intertwines solemn piano and fluttering acoustic guitar alongside “just trying to get by somehow” lyrical laments, playing like a haunting post-mortem of a breakup and into a lovely title-referencing admission. Finding emotional warmth in winter, January is a wholly memorable EP from Schau.Schou.
—
This and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Emerging Singles’ Spotify playlist.
We discovered this release via MusoSoup.
