Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Time is a construct in which we find ourselves filling in days with observations and damage limitation, with pursuits and love, and wherever possible with belief, a belief that what we create will be at least appreciated, if not valued. Time Flies when you’re having fun, however when that time disappears into the ether, a last salute before it is enveloped by unquenchable fog, what we find remaining is a truth, a social reality steeped in a language which we wish to embrace. We cannot fathom Time, we can only live in its shadow and pray we make the most of it and create something beautiful.
Time, it is a creature that cannot be hunted down and preserved, its image is the only thing we can savour and make use of, we can construct an aura of intrigue and set it free to the world and hope that it mirrors, that it reflects, our own perceived notion of time, a creature of its own worth able to compete with the eagle that floats majestically in the air, a symbol of its own time.
To capture Time in the modern age perhaps means being something other creatively beautiful art, that it must stand for something that craves uniqueness, after all in a world of seven billion people, what is more infuriating than not being heard and appreciated for the joy you may bring.
It is in the collaboration of Ian Carr and Niklas Roswall, of two musicians not only willing to move time, but boundaries as well, which makes tracks on their album Time Flies move with the air of atmosphere beating down on a flourishing forest below, a breeze flowing unhindered between each conifer leaf, each branch of instrument quivering in the wake of Time’s breath. In songs such as The Astronaut, Ichiban, Kvarnbergsschottis, Munter John/Allfingerspolskan, Three Polskas, Step On It Sven and Club Anticlimax, what transpires is that Time may not be able to be captured, subjugated to the laws we believe are inherent in humanity, but Time can be fostered, allowed to lift us to points in which our lives are seen to soar above the seeds of despondency, and for even the briefest of moments, take flight.
Time Flies once more for Ian Carr and Niklas Roswall, an album in which two musical souls are reunited with grace and poise, Time Flies…but in the hands of Carr & Roswall it hovers with perpetual finesse.
Carr & Roswall release Time Flies on January 11th.
Ian D. Hall