The White Birch - "Seer Believer"

An album I have been enjoying over the last couple of weeks is "Come Up For Air" by The White Birch. Yet another excellent recommendation from Almostcool site, The White Birch are a three piece from Oslo, Norway making very beautiful and understated music.

I am serioulsy considering relocating to Scandinavia, judging by the quality of the music from this region. The only thing that is stopping me is the price of a pint (£5.30 in Denmark!!).

Loose reference points include Sigur Ros without the massive glacial washes of e-bowed guitar, especially on "Storm Broken Tree" and "Stand Over Me". The instrumentation throughout also brings to mind Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, as well as Anthony & The Johnsons and Belle & Sebastian.

The vocals range from the Sigur Ros falsetto of " Stand Over Me" to the whispered "The Astronaut". Overall, it is a quite startling release on Rune Grammofon, that slowly melts into your memory, and before long will have you having humming along to the haunting melodies.

The video above is "Seer Believer", you can also download four of their songs here