The tunnel at the end of the light

By Manuel Gemperli 

I love when music evokes specific settings – when it transports you to a different place, a different moment. Every time I hit play on Makthaverskan’s “Glass and Bones” I picture being at a big (but not too big) music festival. It’s been a wonderfully sunny day, but now the sun is about to set, so the temperature is falling a bit, giving you the much needed cool-off. Your buzz is exactly right. You’re in perfect control of the gradual loss of control. The person you’re arm in arm with feels exactly the same. It’s that moment before nightfall when everything is still possible. How often is the anticipation the best part of anything? “Pity Party” - strictly sonically speaking - hits me with this euphoric feeling when everything just seems to align perfectly and the music is creating and simultaneously amplifying that rare and feeble euphoria. You wanna hold this moment tight, so you would never have to let go of it. You know how fleeting this moment is. You can’t always see the light at the end of the tunnel, but there’s always a tunnel at the end of the light. 
 
Makthaverskan are brilliant at conveying that feeling of euphoria and simultaneous impending doom. Post-punk is often gloomy and dark, but on this record, they choose to present us a brighter version of it, throwing in a good bit of jangle, maybe even dream-pop. Maja Milner crafts beautifully hooky melodies and presents many of them with a pleasant howl, dialing the emotions up to the max. The guitars play those typical post-punky licks that swirl through the songs. The songcraft is superb. It’s a record that makes you feel good and achy at the same time, because no moment is pure. Nothing lasts forever, neither the euphoria nor the depression.

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