Oneida
The Wedding

In the narrow realm of rock music many artists have tried to transform, adapt to changes, turn things upside down (I think of "Society" by Brian Yuzna), but few have managed to remain themselves without denying their past and without selling out to the latest musical trend. There are many examples, the first that come to mind are Radiohead, but I leave the choice to you. Oneida with this "The Wedding" definitely fall into that category. In a positive sense, of course.

Our guys had already declared their intention to make a different record, but few would have expected such a drastic and disorienting musical change. Forget the lengthy guitar rides, and replace them with waves of acid keyboards and string arrangements, vaguely reminiscent of the famous "Wall of Sound" from Spectorian memory. Add to this the vocals, a rare commodity on previous albums, present in each of the thirteen tracks, turn it all in a psychedelic and sometimes pop key, and you have an approximate portrait of the album.

The album opens with The Eiger, a sweet nursery rhyme all about violas and romance, absurdly close to Motorpsycho's "Let Them Eat Cake" period. The Norwegian specter reappears in other episodes, some shining in their being perfect pop singalong condensates (August Morning Haze, the sublime litany of Run Through My Hair), others less focused and somewhat cloying (Charlemagne and Know). Interesting is the sparing choice to use synthetic bases, as in the hypnotic pace of Leaves, or in the cheerful and carefree High Life.
The old Oneida emerges in tracks like Lavender, where galloping guitars reappear, the drums dominate and the voice finally becomes the main element, or in Did I Die, where for 1'40" it feels like listening to a 70s early hard rock band, due to the heavy riff and the shouted voice. The peaks remain the more hypnotic songs: Heavenly Choir (which is far from heavenly) sung in semi-falsetto and led by a haunting piano; The Beginning is Nigh, with its dominant bass, shamanic drumming, spacey keyboards, minimal guitar, and whispered voice akin to Roger Waters in Set The Controls; Spirits, spectral and acidic Venus in Furs of the new millennium.

Chameleon-like artists, therefore, who grasp the symbolic meaning of the animal and make it their own. The form changes but the content is always the same. That is: I transform outwardly, but in the end, I remain myself.
Hats off to Oneida for challenging themselves without losing face, but rather, gaining even more in artistic respectability. Already one of the best releases of the year.