The sounds of Fabels have always been wrapped up in a sort mystical pagan fugue, mysterious, raw and, incongruous given the electronic delivery, organic.
Fabels are Hiske Weijers from Berlin and Ben Aylward from Sydney and together they produce dreamy, hazy vignettes, heightened by an air of mystery and a chemically-induced fugue in their music: transformative and ambulant. The duo has an uncanny knack of producing the most ethereal and at times psychedelic music, the sort that creates those feelings you get after waking from a particularly lucid dream, when you try and relive it endlessly to recapture that beautiful essence.
The album is set out in alphabetic order, sonic vignettes that range from the opening thrum of ‘Akron’ with its Nordic feel: all windswept threaded hair wild untamed tundra and furs to softer dreamscapes that billow like a silken veil in the sunlight like ‘Nova’. Wiejers use of foreign languages create a certain Teutonic dissonance, adding to the sense of mystery.
‘Alamay’ showcases Wiejer’s softer, aching vocals; light and delicate, sung in English. It is a delicate track that rests on plucking acoustic instruments, with Aylward vocals adding a certain lustre.
‘Ancient’ creates an ominous edge, flickering voices at the edges like some sort of twisted dream, like a Lynchian scene, ghostly, a little terrifying like a nightmare. ‘Fragments’ follows suite and echoes its title- strange noises in the distance create a dark atmosphere with vocals like the static sounds when you turn the dial on an AM radio. Weijers half spoken words intrude into the kaleidoscope of sounds.
‘Luister’ enters with mystery and enigma; distant vocal loops and Weijers’s yearning soft vocals delivered along with spoken words in a foreign language, over brooding synths that swirl like the fog in a snow-clad mountain. It’s ethereal and moving music, with a pagan air. Fittingly, the production comes from Icelandic music producer Geir S Brillian which adds an unique Arctic frisson: a sensuous chill to the spine. The circling vocal loops remain as a force throughout and the result is something quite magnificent: statuesque, spiritual and enchanting.
The track comes with a mesmerising video: a simple shot of a figure floating and moving in a vast body of water: as immersive and transfixing as the music.
The title track continues the dreamy fugue with a little more of a percussive beat, swirling strings. The song ascends, building up slowly and theatrically, swelling like the wild oceans to a heady conclusion. It’s immersive and enigmatic, more a collection of emotions than notes delivered with a delicious pop melody that fills the mind.
‘Pieces’ has a luscious layered feel, a synth bed perfect for a soundtrack to a Nicholas Winding Refn movie, shot late at night across a neo-lit urban landscape. It segues into the seven minute finale ‘Reifen’ with its spoken, half whispered introduction above a wash of synths, delivered like an pagan indie operetta in German. It’s dark and ominous, with tortured vocals, twisted and expressive, a maelstrom of sound whirling in the ether, receding and advancing. It’s powerful, mysterious stuff.
‘Ophera’ is a shimmering sonic maelstrom as a whole – part soft and dreamy, part brittle and shattering, filled with emotion and power in one moment, a hypnotic sensuous dreamscape in another. It’s an immersive delight whatever the tone.
‘Ophera’ is out now and available through the link above or here. Fabels will be launching the album in April – details below and tickets available here.
