release date: Jan. 14, 2022
format: digital (4 x file, FLAC)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,55]
producer: Lars Lundholm (rec.]; Troels Bech [mast.]; Papir [mix.]
label: Stickman Records - nationality: Denmark
7th studio album by Papir following close to three years after VI (May 2019) is the band's third album on Stickman. This new album comes with four compositions and with a total running time at nearly 41 mins. The first track - consisting of three parts - is by far the longest with a running time at almost 20 mins, whereas the three remainders are all well under 10 mins each. Also being released on vinyl, the first track takes up all of the A-side, with the three shorter tracks filling the B-side, it seems natural if all three would have been labelled '7.II (part I-III)' - but they're not. Perhaps the band just think of them as too different, or they want to have you ponder in the dark?
7 is yet another instrumental journey within a post-rock universe but it's also something new to this trio as dreampop-founded AND without the space rock characteristics. Track "7.3" is literally ambient, and that's taking it a bit too far for my taste, but they have successfully tuned down on the fabulating instrumental excess and instead found a calm and slow evolving progress, which to me, sounds as an improvement.
In my ears, this is bliss and it's also the band's so far best album.
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[ 👉SputnikMusic 4 / 5 stars ]
