Over the past two years, the profile of Swedish psychedelic rockers Dungen has grown at an alarming rate, from a cult studio project into a worldwide musical phenomenon. And on Tio Bitar, we’re hearing the end results of an outpouring of success and support – one which has, for once, inspired the creative processes at hand to make something wholly new and original, yet remaining within the same sphere of emotions that fostered Dungen’s three previous albums.
Gustav Ejstes, Dungen’s founder and principal member, made Tio Bitar (translated, “Ten Pieces”) – a bracing display of psychedelic rock, presented with a bright, avid confidence largely by himself, with the assistance of guitarist Reine Fiske. Complex arrangements find the songs boiling over with dozens of ideas, stitched together with studio flash, yet played so soulfully that there’s no evidence of the kind of smug, cynical hamminess that’s been hurting rock music since the early ‘70s. Nor is it the other extreme; no wide-eyed innocence and eagerness to please. Tio Bitar follows world tours and enthusiastic responses from the press and public, and answers the praise with yet another set of cohesive, adventurous rock songs that can’t sit still, yet possess the vision and focus to distance itself from distraction and obvious influences. According to Gustav, it all comes down to one thing. “When I was eight years old,” Gustav remembers, “my mother gave me her copy of Are You Experienced? by Jimi Hendrix. That’s where I first discovered and understood what a ‘groove’ was. Since then, whenever I heard that groove, I recognized it, and I liked it.” He’s not looking to emulate the past, though, at least on the past’s unfailingly outdated terms. “Dungen is not retro,” he states. “Dungen is contemporary. Contemporary because it consists of elements from both then and now.”
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