Us and Them are the Swedish duo of Britt Rönnholm and Anders Hakanson. I’ve heard a few of their contributions to Fruits de Mer releases, the standout being their stunningly gorgeous pagan-folk Songs from The Wicker Man collaboration with Frobisher Neck. For their new single, Us and Them offer up two covers and one original.
I might upset some by saying that anyone could do a Sandy Denny song better than Sandy, but Us and Them take Denny’s By The Time It Gets Dark and do their delicately dreamy acid-wryd-Folk magic, adding additional, though still light, instrumentation. The flute and bells are lovely, making for a trippy romp through fields of flowers. And Britt’s vocals are simply beautiful; we’re talking melted hearts and minds. Ditto for Us and Them’s interpretation of Donovan’s Jabberwocky, which itself was a musical rendition of Lewis Carroll’s poem. For the flip side we’re treated to an Us and Them original, the nearly 7 minute Do I Know You, which is like a psychedelic lullaby from the space angels, and parts of it bring to mind a more spaced out take on the Genesis circa Trespass sound. Absolutely awesome and another band I’d love to see do a full LP on Fruits de Mer.
The single will be available late March, and as usual this is vinyl ONLY, no CDs or downloads. If interested you better hurry because Fruits de Mer releases sell out QUICK!
For more information visit the Fruits de Mer Records web site at: http://www.fruitsdemerrecords.com
Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz