DREAMERS’ CIRCUS
Second Movement
GO’ 0315

www.gofolk.dk
 

In Europe, least, there’s a new wave of instrumental bands who have their roots in folk music but a compositional vision that extends far beyond the limits of genre. Perhaps it all began a couple of decades ago with Sweden’s Väsen, who offered something radically different back then. In Denmark Trio Mio picked up that gauntlet (Nikolaj Busk, one of the member of Dreamers’ Circus, started out with them), while in Britain there’s Spiro, The Cane Whale, and probably more.

With their third disc (don’t be fooled by the name), Dreamer’s Circus have made quite a big leap. It’s a record filled with confidence, where their reach fully meets their grasp. Nods to folk music do abound (the opener, “Folkrotsvalsen” is really a folk tune) but are also dispelled like mist under the sun. The brief “First Impression,” for example, owes a debt to the music of Erik Satie, filled out in a beautiful way; a sketch with sun and shadow. For a trio they create a very big sound, one that’s at once contemporary (“A Room In Paris”) and yet still capable of retaining the intimate sensibility of folk music. They’ve increased their instrumental palette to great effect, with good overdubs.

A few pieces remain lightweight, but they stand as the sorbet between much tastier courses. There’s a very strong streak of romanticism in the music, as on the ache of the melody on the piano-dominated “The Ballad Of Solitude Street,” where notes are like runnels of rain on the window. Impressionistic and moving. And from there it’s directly into “Prelude To The Sun,” a lush arrangement of Bach’s Violin Partita #3. Anyone dismissive of the quality of folk fiddle, start here and prepare to raise your jaw off the floor. But it’s just a springboard into a meditation. There’s plenty more to enjoy, but the crowning glory is the epic eleven minutes of “Fragments of Solbyn.” It’s essentially all they do in one nutshell, from folk to modern classical, a piece that grows and breathes, developing organically and quite breathtaking in its achievement and attention to detail.

Dreamers’ Circus is a band that’s really found itself. They’re world class. Now the world needs to hear them.

— Chris Nickson