(Beatservice Records/Creative Vibes)

Oslo, Norway-based downtempo trio Flunk (aka producer / vocalist Ulf Nygaard, guitarist Jo Bakke and lead vocalist Anja Oyen Vister) first turned heads with their acoustic reworking of New Order’s seminal ‘Blue Monday’, which found its way onto numerous UK chill-out radio shows including Nick Luscombe’s ‘Blue Room’, leading the way for their 2001 debut album ‘For Sleepyheads Only.’ Recorded during a hectic week-long schedule in a room of Paris’ Hotel del Roubaix before being polished up in their Oslo home studio, ‘For Sleepyheads Only’ proved to be one of Beatservice’s biggest successes to date, with ‘Blue Monday’ as well as other album tracks being featured on a large number of compilations right across the world.

Three years on, their follow-up album ‘Morning Star’ shows Flunk following the same creative process used during the recording of this previous album, the trio enlisting the aid of drummer Erik Ruud and returning to the Hotel del Roubaix to sketch out the structures of these new songs. Opening title track ‘Morning Star’ outlines Flunk’s acoustic-led sonic approach, with Vister’s angelically wistful vocal (“You are my morning star”) tracing its way over dubbed-out live drums and Bakke’s fluid guitar strokes, which shift effortlessly between laidback and groovy and vaguely sinister (further bringing out the obsessive torchsong qualities of Vister’s lyric), while first single ‘On My Balcony’ rides an easy melodic guitar backing and some Moogy analog keyboards to create an immediately accessible yet well-crafted radio single that would sit well next to the likes of Dido and Zero 7.

‘Spring To Kingdom Come’ drops the pace back down, with Bakke’s gently plucked guitar trailing its way over downtempo programmed beats, Vister’s voice twisting and turning through an impressive range that calls to mind Mum’s lead vocalist, before Nygaard’s gravelly spoken-sung vocal drops in amongst the languid dubbed-out beats (“I’m waiting for sun to come to my kingdom”), leading into ‘Six Seven Times’ clicking drum-machine beats and vague ragga-skank, wafting synth pads tracing their way around Vister’s teasing chanteuse vocal and Bakke’s lover’s rock-tinged guitar (“It’s typical of you / looking like you do”). Like previous album ‘For Sleepyheads Only’, Flunk have included a cover version amongst the tracklisting here, this time a groovy reworking of The Kinks’ ‘All Day And All Of The Night’ that mashs up a sampled radio intro before Bakke’s sinuous wah-guitar line slinks in around electro-tinged beats, Ulf Nygaard’s lazy tones trading verses with Vister’s angelic ice-queen temptress vocals in one of this album’s most upbeat moments.

‘I’ve Been Waiting All Of My Life To Leave You’ sounds as upbeat as its title suggests, with countrified slide guitar riffs tracing their way around Vister’s echo-laden vocal in a manner that calls to mind slowcore US band Mazzy Star’s outings with vocalist Hope Sandoval, while ‘Blind My Mind’ offers another of this album’s standout moments and a perfect candidate for a future single, with slow-burning strings powering their way alongside Vister’s vocal, strummed guitar and military-sounding drums in a way that curiously recalls U2 circa ‘All That You Can’t Leave Behind.’ ‘Everything Is Ending Here’ places Vister’s vocals through a Portishead-style scratchy filter and places them over beatbox drum-machine beats and warm keyboard tones, live bass and funk-inflected guitar tracing a path around the downtempo hiphop-meets-lounge backing, before ‘Kemikal Girl’ closes this album on a strummed acoustic note, Bakke’s untreated guitar providing a bed for Vister’s swooning melancholy vocal (“finding my way through the rain / all of my thoughts go insane”) as it slowly echoes away.

‘Morning Star’ is an excellent new album from Flunk that’s a more than worthy follow-up to the well-received ‘For Sleepyheads Only’; at nine tracks and 35 minutes in length, it’s also a well-crafted yet petite offering that omits any sense of filler or flab – there’s simply not a weak moment amongst the tracks included here. Most notably, it’s Bakke’s guitar that is as much a star of the show here as Vister’s distinctive vocal presence, and much of this album’s compelling sense of slow-burning atmosphere is down to his deft contributions, knowing exactly how to bring out and counterpoint her performance, whilst avoiding ‘overplaying’ at all times – Bakke does more with three notes than most guitarists do with five. Perfect comedown listening for when you’re feeling fragile – for my money, ‘Morning Star’ has more heart than Zero 7 and Air’s last efforts combined.Recommended.

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