Articles
2014 TOP 10s & 20s
Dday One

Albums
2562
Poppy Ackroyd
Blueneck
Nicholas Chase
Vicky Chow
Carlos Cipa
Dale Cooper + Witxes
Dday One
Federico Durand
English + Vitiello
Everyday Dust
Eyck and Tarnow
Faded Ranger
Grouper
Robert Hood
Human Greed
The Invaderz
Thomas Köner
Kontext
Akira Kosemura
Heiko Laux
Norberto Lobo
Andrew McIntosh
Monolog
Aina Myrstener Cello
Northumbria
Michael Nyman
One World Symphony
Postma & Osby
David Pritchard
[.que]
See Through Trio
Dirk Serries
Jakob Skøtt
Miguel Zenón

Reissue
Hassell and Eno

Compilations
Air Texture Volume IV
Emerging Organisms 5
Hyperdub 10.4

EPs / Singles
David Ahlen
Blu Mar Ten
Boston feat. Solis
DIFFER-Ent (By DJ Bone)
Gone Beyond
Matthias Grübel
Lami / Ratti
Lubomyr Melnyk
Ryo Murakami
Om Unit
Pursuit Grooves

David Ahlen: All the Way My Saviour Leads Me
Volkoren

Issued on the Dutch label Volkoren, David Åhlén's latest EP would seem to be a re-issue of the All the Way My Saviour Leads Me release that appeared on the Swedish Thehourislate imprint in 2009. No matter: Åhlén's music stirs the soul no matter when it was released, and the EP's seventeen minutes are as lovely a representation of his artistry as one might wish for. The primary selling point of Åhlén's music is, as always, his voice, a fragile thing of beauty that's usually delivered in falsetto. Not far behind are the five songs, which, whilst arranged using minimal means, are powerful in their own right.

Åhlén, who lives with his wife and five children on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea, recorded the songs—his preacher father's favourite hymns—as a personal gift for his father on his seventieth birthday. As a preliminary scan of the titles shows, the songs are religious in character, though that doesn't mean that only those sharing Åhlén's faith will derive pleasure from listening to them (consider by way of comparison the degree to which listeners worldwide have been enriched by the music of John Tavener without necessarily sharing his Orthodox Christian faith).

As mentioned, Åhlén's songs are starkly arranged, with his voice often accompanied by little more than a single instrument or harmony vocal. But, not surprisingly, the music consequently gains in force when that additional element makes its appearance. On these songs, Åhlén's vocals, guitar, and organ are complemented by the singing of Priscilla Åhlén Sundqvist and the guitar, theremin, and E-bow playing of Christoffer Wadensten.

Establishing the recording's character, Åhlén accompanies his tremulous voice on the opening title song with acoustic guitar before slowing the tempo slightly for “Great is Thy Faithfulness,” his double-tracked voice hauntingly augmented by Sundqvist's wordless presence during the song's closing moments. On “Holy, Holy, Holy,” he sings the first two verses alone before Sundqvist joins him for the third, while “Rock of Ages” closes the EP with the stark sound of Åhlén's quiver accompanied by real-world sounds of traffic noises. If, in fact, the songs on All the Way My Saviour Leads Me were recorded years ago, perhaps that means that it won't be long before a collection of newly recorded material by Åhlén makes its way into the world.

December 2014