The new album from vocalist Kristoffer Bolander, I Forgive Nothing, out November 13 on Tapete Records, is that rare beast that's Art and accessible. Simultaneously highbrow and immediate, the record was a pleasant surprise for me when I dove into it.
If Bolander's voice sounds a bit like Jason Lytle's, the music really sounds nothing like Lytle's band Grandaddy. On the title cut here, Bolander delivers vocals that are both smooth and forceful as the music unfurls behind him like the best, most anthemic sort of music that Coldplay make at moments. "Starlight" ambles nicely and is fairly catchy, while "Rooted" is more expansive and longer. This is music that rewards a careful listener but it's also music that never sacrifices accessibility for artistic effect. "The Rings Above" adds in a gently-plucked acoustic guitar to the formula of the record, while the epic "Outlaws" sounds like nothing so much as it does a Radiohead cut being covered by Neil Young. And I do realize that is an enormous endorsement of Kristoffer Bolander and his material.
I Forgive Nothing by Kristoffer Bolander is out next Friday on Tapete Records. It is an album that deserves a great deal of attention as Bolander certainly possesses the sort of voice that is a rare instrument in today's musical climate.