Self-defined ‘melancholic post-rock.’ Swedish electropop with dreamy female vocals, soft string accompaniments, and mellotron. Chill, hypnotic, great arrangements. Quintet based in Stockholm. Vocalist sometimes reminds one of Björk and Portishead, and is married to the drummer. Name of the band, Paatos, is equivalent to Greek word, “pathos.” Paatos’ 2nd album’s name, “Kallocain,” refers to a Swedish science fiction novel. Mixed by Steve Wilson of Porcupine Tree. NO FCC VIOLATIONS. ALL SONGS GOOD.
1) “Gasoline” (5:55). Björk-like. Opens with tortured violin. 0:37 electric guitar starts to come in. 0:44 add drums and bass. 1:06 sliding, legato viola. High dreamy female layered vox at 1:52. 2:13 guitar sounds like synthesizer. 2:36 vox escalate and slightly distorted. 3:04 just guitar, rest of instruments at 3:15, 3:40 vox back. 4:34 just electric guitar again, drums at 4:42. 4:53 strings more prominent. End at 5:50.
2)*“Holding On” (5:50). Slow, chill. Gentle intro (synthesized). Percussion and cello at 0:12. Piano and trippy female vox, both echo-y at 0:37. Slightly jazzy (reminds me of Zero 7 and Björk combined). 1:26 synthesized guitar rhythm. 3:37 instrumental bridge. End at 4:51.
3)“Happiness” (5:20). Trippy. Slow, keyboard intro. Electric guitar in at 0:16. 0:33 echo-y synthesized background. Bass-y synthesized, distorted beat occasionally. 0:51 beats stronger. Female vox in at 1:09. 1:41 everything escalates. 3:33 short, programmed interlude. Instrumental, slight emphasis on a guitar melody. 4:56 percussion drops out, slows down. End about 5:14.
4)**“Absinth Minded” (4:49). See title. Pretty quiet until 0:04, opening with mucky sampled electric guitar(?) sound until 0:48, when gentle keyboard and distorted female vox join in - still dreamy, but take on stronger role in this song. 1:31 guitar. 2:22 keyboard only until 2:28. 2:40 small instrumental arsenal soars gently. 3:49 calms down. 4:23 sounds like digireedoo. End at 4:44.
5)*“Look At Us” (5:25). Slightly jazzy and nostalgic. Few sweeping opening beats. 0:07 soft percussion with guitar, and brass-sounding beat. 0:23 female vox. 0:51 key change, still minor. 2:13 instrumental. Piano emphasis 3:44. 3:58 soft choir-like vox added, with low guitar. 4:30 improv-like percussion. End about 5:16.
6)**“Reality” (7:37). Starker. Can’t hear much until 0:12, and it’s still a pretty quiet keyboard. 0:33 cool beats enter. 1:04 female vox enter, with guitar. Cello at 1:28. 2:12 change in beat. 2:44 more different programmed beats and sounds. 3:50 another switch, with layered vox. 4:34 spacey programmed scratching. 4:59 enter melancholy violin. 6:27 background starts dropping out. End at 7:30.
7) “Stream” (5:17). Jazzier and breathier. Piano chords intro. 0:20 gentle percussion and vox. 1:36 violin. 1:58 fewer instruments. Sparse 2:33 strings only, with occasional gentle crashes of percussion. 3:36 welcome back strings and fuller percussion. End about 5:08.
8)“Won’t Be Coming Back” (5:32). Weird, yet hypnotic dream. Programmed sounds with off beat. 0:16 gentle high hat in. 0:36 vox in and tempo slows down. 1:43 tempo change again. Key changes. 2:30 synthesizer back. 4:06 vox echo eerily in background. End about 5:17.
9)*“In Time” (6:34). Chill-out to the end of a long night. Vox open immediately, harmonizing with occasional keyboard chords. 0:26 electronic beat starts to creep in, stops at 0:46. 1:01whisper of percussion. 1:12 sounds like clarinet. 1:26 percussion becomes slightly more prominent. 2:01 focus on keyboard/guitar/whatever it is. 2:49 guitar two. 3:01 vox back. 4:27 more synthesized sounds, like digital wind. 4:50 instruments start to drop out. End at 6:30. -margot