Sekunden

if there's been one positive trend emerging from the ruins of what was known as 'electronica' over the last couple of years, it has been the comeback of acoustic instruments, especially the piano. there is a whole new generation of young musicians blending their electronic tendencies with acoustic leanings; software tricks with the sheer craftsmanship of playing traditional instruments. swod without a doubt are among the founding fathers of this new, almost neo-classical approach to modern music, and the success of their debut 'gehen' was enough to show the world that something very special was happening. 'sekunden' is more than a simple follow-up. "we worked the same way as we did on 'gehen'", wohrmann says. "i would record the piano and pass the files on to oliver. then he would add something on top, give it back to me... recording swod is like playing ping-pong." and yet 'sekunden' is a bigger and bolder second step than even the band's die-hard fans could have hoped for. the melodies are catchier, the bass is tighter, the electronics catch the general mood of the tracks even better and the drums, in all their subtlety, are funkier. on tracks like 'ja' or 'belgien', the voice of a long dead cinema icon perfectly sets the mood, while 'deer' feels like a long-awaited breeze in the blistering heat. 'insects' gently disturbs the listener with it's delicate mixture of field-recordings, warm synth patterns and almost sequenced piano and 'patinage', in all it's speed and glory, culminates everything swod have come to represent in an endless loop of beauty. then the piano fades and all one can do is to start again from the beginning...