Kashmir
No Balance Palace

THE REVIEW

Few know them, even fewer could name any of their titles... Yet these Danes (yes, Denmark!) are the Radiohead if Yorke and company hadn't ventured into new musical paths... Perhaps I'll be accused of musical heresy, but I assure you that the Radiohead have nothing to envy them (at most their bank account...).

Active since 1994, with four albums and several EPs behind them (including the splendid "Zitilites" from 2003 and the previous "The Good Life" from 1999), Kashmir are a band that knows how to create music of excellent craftsmanship, with meticulously crafted sounds where every instrument finds its space, without excesses and without protagonism; a biting bass that leaves its marks on walls of electric guitars, which spread like a light veil over a convincing and above all engaging rhythm and then, on this artistic musical fresco, the voice of Kasper Eistrup, the group's leader, leaves light strokes, but which can also be heartrending and leave a gray halo, as if we were seeing this fresco through a winter mist.

A bit rock and a bit noise-pop (if you'll allow me the audacity), the tracks float between melody and experimentation and the lyrics sometimes need to be overturned, to reveal their real meanings to us. And then... And then how could we not mention "The Cynic" and "Black Building"... two tracks on which two music giants collaborated: respectively a certain David Bowie and a certain Lou Reed! The former even candidly defined himself as a fan of the band (one could easily be overwhelmed with emotion after such a statement for a still semi-unknown group!!). In short, these four Danes really know their stuff and it's no coincidence that Tony Visconti, already the producer of the White Duke, wanted to oversee the production of this latest effort... few know them, even fewer could name any of their titles... Who knows, maybe things will change... they truly deserve it!!