Croatian Amor-LA Hills Burn at the Peak of Winter

Croatian Amor is the solo work of Loke Rahbek, he of former blackened punk monsters Sexdrome and currently of dark industrial-pop band Vår. And while those two bands along should demonstrate his ability to make massive musical leaps between genres, I don't think it properly prepares for the shift to what he makes as Croatian Amor. Although the has been putting out a steady stream of cassettes under the name since 2011, "LA Hills Burn at the Peak of Winter", from his upcoming debut LP The World, is the first I'm hearing of it. Which I'm slightly ok with because I was truly caught off guard with how unbelievably stunning and enveloping his music is.

"LA Hills Burn at the Peak of Winter" is not nearly as brutal as the name suggests. In fact, it's one of the most gorgeous pieces of electronica I have heard in a while. A slightly muffed but stunning synth line serves as the songs core, like a bright beacon that never falters once, along with a few skeletal guitar lines that give the song subtle shifts. Slow, molasses like bass lines and both tinkering and more atmospheric synths begin to coat the song, with the must subtle of beats popping in like a momentary pulse. The track is seven and half minutes long, and takes all the time it needs expanding and shifting in the smallest ways possible to grand effect. "LA Hills Burns at the Peak of Winter" is what's playing in the background as you watch something stunning slowly disintegrate before your eyes. And Rahbek's ability to find beauty in that event is completely and utterly memorizing.      



Links:

Try to obtain The World here, from Posh Isolation