For some 10 years or so, Ulrika Spacek have been quietly building a fan base of listeners that dare venture into the musical ground some dub as art rock, although the band themselves would rather have it that their music bears no tag at all. Within that decade – releasing fou albums, an EP and a few singles – the London band (currently a quintet) were not able to make it as far as to quit their day jobs (experimental physicists, graphic designers, music producers). Still, they persist at trying to forge a sound of their own, whether you call it art rock, or just simply something.
That pursuit continues on their latest offering, with a seemingly simple, but utterly complex title – EXPO. In the attempt to navigate through the 11 tracks here, let us handle that “art rock” tag. Many would say it is above all ambitious music that tries to reach artistic ambitiouns through experimentation and crossing genre boundaries – and all of that certainly applies to Ulrika Spacek.
Yet, sometimes with art rock musicians that ambition part can be a bit overwhelming, with some biting off more that they can chew. However, Ulrika Spacek have so far been able to balance ambition and experimentation while creating music that even not-so-daring listeners can apprehend and enjoy. They have been able to do that by not trying to involve too many differing musical elements at one time, creating a sort of a balance that isn’t too complex or pretentious.
The band continues such a music building process on EXPO. This time around the balance Ulrika Spacek create is between electronic and traditional rock instrumentation while at the same time keeping the complexity of the music at the level that makes music have a natural flow.
That is quite evident on tracks like “I Could Just Do It” where the complexity abounds but without a jarring effect that is created when you have to many musical ideas involved.
It seems that one of the things the band are trying to convey here is that electronic and more standard musical elements are able to co-exist and work together and create some exciting music, with aptly titled “Build a Box Then Break It” proving their point.
It’s unlikely EXPO will not enable Ulrika Spacek members to quit their day jobs, but it is deserving of attention to fans established and new.
