Olvis is Orlygur Thor Orlygsson, an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Bravado is his third LP, coming a year after his last, the critically acclaimed The Blue Sound, and follows somewhat on the path of ethereal, drawn melodies and matter-of-fact song structures.
Olvis’ songs are somehow short, efficiently sprawling affairs. Falling happily from one track to the next, a mixture of indie drums, repeated bass and guitar lines and leading sighs make first ten minutes a relaxed, washy affair, and set the tone for how Bravado transpires. The slower lament “Go Ape’ taps its way in – a not-quite-spooky organ wails as his voice takes to the fore – a rich, soothing lament that teases with meaning and passion. Teased, because the words are all in Icelandic, and for the most part Olvis sounds like he is pining for lost loves, missed opportunities, dreaming of unrealised possibilities of a personal nature, when the literature assures us the album deals with his views and concerns of global capitalism, US hegemony and a seemingly outsiders take on world issues.
There is certainly playfulness to the way this gets played out… Activist, revolutionary song titles abound – “The Future Is Now’, “Fight The Power’, “War Chant’s and the possible slight at the USA’ president “Go Ape’. But “War Chant’s is a misnomer – static hisses and hums that eventually transform to melody as though you had put your ear up to a sea-shell that had its own keyboard playing Phantom inside is almost diametrically opposed to a traditional a call to arms!
It is this humour that makes this an intriguing listen and show how calculated and well formed this record really is – at points mid nineties Radiohead and Blur spring to mind in comparison, even though at first listen any links between those two and Olvis are tenuous at best. The album never really has any exceptional peaks – a few gorgeous strings, percussion and bass cameos from Sigur Ros family members fit wonderfully, but are definitely respectful of their hosts intentions. Regardless of high points, Bravado‘ brilliant mix of psych pop, meandering, cloud gazing melodies and palate cleansing instrumentals that wouldn’ go astray in a modern film’ score make this an album worth enjoying the high quality plateau it rests upon.
Alistair Erskine
