First Glances – Calisota
Jeniferever is one of my favourite bands and Olle Bilius is one of Jeniferever. Part of my love for the band stems from its beautiful guitars and Olle is one of Jeniferever’s many (well, three) beautiful guitarists. He also plays bass, keyboard and now he’s branched out to make a solo EP. At least Calisota is solo in the sense of being Olle’s baby, not Kristofer Jönson’s . Certainly Olle is helped out. I hear some female vocals on the EP’s opening track ‘Opalbell’. But in terms of songwriting, lyrics, mixing and production, this is all Olle, reinforcing my long held theory that the very best bands have more than one genius.
So what is it like? I must say it is rather as we might have expected – a bit like Jeniferever, aspects of Jeniferever, but also different. The EP’s second track ‘Pine Grove’ is probably the closest in vibe and sound to his parent band. It is possibly also my own favourite. The other two are arguably edgier and darker than standard Jeniferever fare. Something slightly sinister going on in here. Slightly….twisted.
Where do we buy it? Honestly, I haven’t the first clue! There’s a helpful magazine for you! Ollie pressed a CD into my hand as I said my ‘goodbyes’ after their recent gig in Antwerp. I had forgotten to go to the Merch desk, much to my later dismay. (They had CD and vinyl copies of all the albums AND the Iris EP….) I must admit the air was blue the next day when I realised. But at least I had the Calisota recording to cheer me up.
Very nice indeed and recommended to all fans of Scandinavian post-rock and experimental.
Footnote – Olle informs me that there is a Bandcamp account where you can hear AND download this music. Hugely generous in my opinion. To buy the physical CD, contact Olle directly at ollebilius@live.se