Ah Sweden! Fabled land of snow and fog, home to Ace of Base, ABBA and Santa Clause, originator of both Stockholm Syndrome and the Nobel Peace Prize. In addition to exporting the world’s most beautiful women and black metal, you can now count High Mountain’s latest EP Expectations on the Banyan Tree, among the five things you know about Sweden.
Think of The Tallest Man on Earth, but add additional musicians and place the sound squarely within an indie format and you’ll begin to understand the appeal of High Mountain. The opening track “Voyage,” sets the pace for the EP as a whole, cradling the audience gently within its reflective mid-tempo ambiance.
On the next track “Pipe Dream,” the first strains of what could be described as an over-all theme surface. That theme is waiting. In northern countries winter can swallow eight months of every year. This time of endurance is sometimes called, ‘the tunnel,’ and is used as an apt metaphor to contradict the joy and misery implicit in any relationship on Banyan Tree’s finest track, “Fall Pretty.”
The EP finishes out somewhat shakily, but for the singer-song writer format, I’m interested to see how twenty-one year old Axel Hogberg progresses in his field. His vocals register in the higher octaves, and at places on the album detracts from the emotional experience, however, Expectations on the Banyan Tree is an excellent first showing for a promising young musician.
Rating: 5.0/10
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High Mountain: Expectations On the Banyan Tree
