Through the band’s first two albums, 2002’s Protect
Us From What We Want and 2005’s Permanent
Holiday Thirdimension’s epic pop and bombastic
garage rock were certainly electrified if not at times electronic.
With their new album, Before The End Begins, Thirdimension
unplugs (for the most part) and offers enthralling acoustic
versions of songs from their two previous albums, a couple previously
unreleased new songs, plus some interesting covers. Before
The End Begins was recorded in a spectacular old church
in Malmo, Sweden, in early 2006, thereby blessed with natural
cathedral reverb. This album finds Thirdimension eschewing volume
for simple but effective orchestrations that truly highlight
the deft songcraft behind their music, and in a candlelit setting
built for heavenly harmonies and hushed hymns.
Check out the
band's new website. |
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Current praise for Before The End Begins:
ALL
MUSIC GUIDE:
"The first two albums by Swedish indie outfit Thirdimension
had the epic bombast of OK Computer-era Radiohead leavened
with some of the pop suss of Coldplay and the other Radiohead-lite
bands that followed: solid, ambitious stuff, but with just
a whiff of pretension. The knowledge that the band's third
album was recorded in a cathedral would normally lead one
to worry that the band had tipped over the edge into Simple
Minds-style self-parody, but as it turns out, the largely
acoustic Before the End Begins is Thirdimension's most appealing
album yet. The unplugged arrangements let most of the hot
air out of the songs, and lead singer Björn Stegmann's
occasionally mannered vocals sound more relaxed than ever.
The reverb-heavy setting also gives the songs a bit more breathing
room. That said, it's undeniable that the album's highlights
are the oddball covers, of Jefferson Airplane's "3/5
of a Mile in 10 Seconds" and an unexpectedly effective
mash-up of Blue Öyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper"
(sans cowbell, sadly) and the Posies' "Dream All Day."
Still, fans will appreciate hearing these stripped-down versions
of favorites like "Sore Lips" and "Mondaymachine,"
and those who found the band's first two albums too epic for
their taste may well be charmed by the lowered sense of importance
on this more intimate release." (Stewart Mason)
USA
TODAY:
"Swedish psych-pop band goes acoustic live, including
a great pair of covers: a medley of BOC's Don't Fear the Reaper
matched with a snatch of The Posies' Dream All Day, and a
dazzling version of Jefferson Airplane's 3/5 of a Mile in
10 Seconds." (Ken Barnes)
Past praise for Thirdimension:
30
MUSIC:
"The Swedish garage-rock band mines the classic music
they love on Permanent Vacation, including the likes of the
Beatles, the Who, the Kinks, and other "The" bands.
They do it to great effect, filling each song to the brim
with their wellfounded pop sensibility and lush harmonies.”
ALL MUSIC GUIDE:
"If the Soundtrack of Our Lives owe much of their sound
to Pink Floyd and the Rolling Stones; the Dipsomaniacs to
the Kinks and the Creation; Motorpsycho to the Who and the
early Soft Machine, and Sigur Ros to whale songs and solo
Robert Wyatt, then Sweden's Thirdimension owes a debt to —
well, actually, all of them, to some extent.”
SKYSCRAPER:
“Are the best Brit bands not British any more? Sweden’s
Thirdimension mine the spectrum of possibilities, updating
Nuggets-style psych and the quirky pop of the Television Personalities
or Soft Boys for the new century.”
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY:
"Thirdimension have a hardto- miss, era-spanning U.K.
influence, with nods to melody-minded '60s stalwarts like
the Kinks and modern Brit-Poppers Blur and Oasis."
Thirdimension discography
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