Pree Tone — Brekka (2020)

"Brekka" — an album recorded by the band Pree Tone in Iceland. Almost falling off a cliff in their car, the band spent four days in a small studio far from civilization. Today we finally listen and evaluate the result of that work. 

It is still a struggle for me to say, if it’s possible to do the same thing, to stay in the same relationships, to live in one place and not to get tired or burn out emotionally. The only balanced answer to those questions so far is “no”. I guess, the guys of Pree Tone think the same, demonstrating it with their new release once again that stomping in one place is the road to nowhere, while change and destruction are the only driving force of development of any boundaries. Sounds like an undeniable truth, doesn’t it?

The first thing which have changed in the band was its line-up. The previous full-length and conceptually "childish" album "Kiddy" was recorded with already renewed line-up. It includes now Vova, Serge and Lune. The second change that affected the sound, having made the latter sound cooler and sharper, was the location. The guys travelled all the way to the north of Iceland, to the mountain town of “Brekka” to record the like-named album. Yannick Ze Grundio, the founder of the Geertruida label, was the one to invite them. Geertruida will be responsible for the cassette release. The digital version is up to the [addicted label] (which released Soom in particular).

Pree Tone is not one of those bands with an unambiguous predictable vector of development. However, this time the ambient-psychedelic-noise sympho-experiments are moving to a clearer direction. That is, on the one hand, the farewell to their previous selves, and on the other — the integrity and maturity which appears in their material, the move to a well-understood direction. And, most likely, however paradoxical it is, this can be done only due to the conscious rejection of the conventional framework and making a step to a determinate direction. One way or another, as of "Brekka", twenty-minute shoegaze epics (like those of "D-A") gave way to new five fairly mature and bright pearls drifting in the powerful ocean of psychedelia.

Vocal parts sometimes sound as if they were your own voice in your head, enticing you into a trans-galactic journey, to travel through some musical landscapes, reminiscent of your old photos, where the "grain" on the film is seen. One can’t be said though – that "Brekka" is a background listening. Except when you are on the road or are having a more "specifically focused" journey through your own consciousness.

Release is quite "detailed”, and all these details are sure to attract attention and nourish your presence in this musical fabric. Due to such detail, intimacy and insights into consciousness, there is an almost incestuous connection with the listener, where you no longer understand whether you hear music from the outside or whether it is the "Flow" that you have just discovered inside, immersing in "the jelly of your mind".

This release is perfect for dissolving in it. Just as it dissolves in you, fizzing up like an effervescent vitamin "C" tablet in a glass of water, erasing the boundaries so it is harder to understand where those are or whether they really exist. But this boundary (of conditional genres), is at the same time boundless-ness (where there are no limits for any separate genre, but there is interpenetration and a mixture) gives a great opportunity, to blend all existing boundaries, and to enrich the genre, however conditional it might be. 

Pree Tone — noise rock/ shoegaze band from Kyiv. It emerged at the intersection of revolution and war in the late winter of 2014. The band has four mini-albums and three LPs. A documentary about the band's trip to Iceland is currently being prepared.

Pree Tone:

https://preetone.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/preetone
https://www.instagram.com/preetonekiev/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcplA2VAlrqZGi0j9MiFg2w