Blomljud
| [Blomljud] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Front cover to [Blomljud] created by Petter Sandström | ||||
| Studio album by Moon Safari | ||||
| Released | 2008 | |||
| Recorded | February–September 2007 | |||
| Genre | Progressive rock | |||
| Length | 103:52 | |||
| Label | Blomljud Records | |||
| Producer | Moon Safari | |||
| Moon Safari chronology | ||||
| ||||
[Blomljud] is the second album release from the Swedish progressive rock band Moon Safari. It is the band's first double album, containing 11 songs of various lengths. It was released in 2008, three years after their debut album, A Doorway to Summer. It was released on the independent label Blomljud Records.
Blomljud (pronounced [blʊmjʉ̟d]) is Swedish and means "flowersound", although the lyrics on the album are all in English. The flowers are a recurring theme throughout the whole album.
Composition
Unlike on A Doorway to Summer, where all words and music were credited to the band as a whole, the booklet to [Blomljud] gives credit to separate band members for each song, revealing Petter Sandström and Simon Åkesson as the main songwriters.
Music
Most of the music on the album is credited to Sandström and Åkesson, either by themselves or together. Johan Westerlund is credited as writing the music for "Bluebells", and former guitarist, Anthon Johansson, shares writing credits for "Yasgur's Farm".
Themes and motives
There are a few musical themes and lead motives that can be heard with different lyrics and some musical variations in different songs, making the album more of a single piece of music rather than eleven separate songs.
Choirs
One thing that typifies Moon Safari's music is the choir arrangements made by Simon Åkesson. These arrangements often include four voices or more (note that all five members receive vocal credit).
Time signatures
Like many other progressive rock acts, Moon Safari's songs often use odd changes and values of time signature. The following are some examples found on this album:
- Most parts of "Bluebells" are in 5/8
- "Yasgur's Farm" includes segments of both 7/4 and 7/8 rounded with 4/4
- "Written in the Stars" ends with an instrumental section that switches between 5/4, 6/4 and 7/4
- At the end of "Child Inside the Man", there is another instrumental section in the very unusual 11/8 that may lead to comparisons to Apocalypse In 9/8 by Genesis
- "After All" begins with a simple 4/4 but with one bar shortened to 7/8 which creates a section of 8 bars with a total of 30 and a half beats.
Track listing
Disc One – [ Ka-on I ]
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Constant Bloom" | Johan Westerlund | Simon Åkesson | 1:27 | |
| 2. | "Methuselah's Children" | Petter Sandström | S. Åkesson, Sandström | 15:43 | |
| 3. | "In the Countryside" | Sandström | Sandström | 5:43 | |
| 4. | "Moonwalk" | (instrumental) | S. Åkesson, Sandström | 8:49 | |
| 5. | "Bluebells" | Westerlund | Westerlund | 10:11 | |
| 6. | "The Ghost of Flowers Past" | Sandström, Westerlund | S. Åkesson | 9:46 |
Disc Two – [ Ka-on II ]
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Yasgur's Farm" | Sandström | S. Åkesson, Anthon Johansson, Sandström | 8:06 | |
| 2. | "Lady of the Woodlands" | Sandström | S. Åkesson, Sandström | 3:37 | |
| 3. | "A Tale of Three and Tree" | Sandström, Westerlund | S. Åkesson | 3:28 | |
| 4. | "Other Half of the Sky"
| Sandström | Sandström | 31:44 | |
| 5. | "To Sail Beyond the Sunset" | Sandström, Westerlund | S. Åkesson | 5:18 |
Personnel
- Simon Åkesson – lead and backing vocals, piano, moogs, mellotrons, hammond organ, piano accordion, SFX, choir arrangements
- Petter Sandström – lead and backing vocals, 12-string acoustic guitar, occasional electric guitar, SFX
- Pontus Åkesson – electric guitars, 6 & 12-string guitars, mandolin, backing vocals
- Johan Westerlund – bass, lead vocals
- Tobias Lundgren – drums, percussion, backing vocals
Guest musicians
- Anthon Johansson (founding member) – electric guitar on "Yasgur's Farm"
- Anders Pettersson – pedal steel guitar
- Andreas Persson – percussion
- Måns Axelsson-Ljung – violin, fiddles
- Mona Falk – cello on "A Tale of Three and Tree"