In the month of October, with the leaves turning their deep vibrant colors and Halloween steadily approaching, we may imagine ourselves back in 1986, the year in which Norwegian synth-pop band a-ha, best known for their monumental 1985 hit “Take On Me,” captured the essence of autumn on their 1986 sophomore album “Scoundrel Days.”
In contrast to the more directly plastic pop sound associated with their genre, the band layered moody guitar and sweeping synthesizers in a way that evokes less the glitter-laden flash of the MTV era and more the chilled gothic flavor of a band like The Cure.
The opening title track is one of the best examples of this shift, opening with a sharp stabbing synth riff that would not feel out of place in a horror film score and lead singer Morten Harket delivering dramatic lines of singing narration leading up to the entrance of the guitar.
Harket’s singing is another strong layer to the album’s sound; he could belt to the heavens, but he could just as easily sing in a toned-down ballad style. His vocal range, control and power give “Scoundrel Days” the gas needed to stay up and running, even through this change in style.
It wasn’t all atmosphere and feelings for the band at this time, however. On the album one will still hear plenty of corny and dated synth sounds, such as on the seasonally-appropriate ballad “October,” which bafflingly features a fake trumpet synthesizer mimicking the lead vocal line. Sometimes it feels like “layered” was the production teams’ goal without much care to what those layers consisted of.
“October” also suffers from its placement on the album’s tracklist; it is immediately dwarfed by the following track, “Manhattan Skyline,” which starts out with a similar ballad style and picks up more energy as it goes. It’s another effective exhibition of Harket’s range, while keeping the electric guitar present and never fully abandoning the emotional performance that the beginning promises.
As far as emotion extends in the album, it’s more present in the atmosphere than any specific lyrics. In general, a-ha were never known as a lyrical band. Their songs were written in a way that was just cohesive enough to make sense upon first listen, but any further examination will reveal the lack of any central theme or narrative. Many of their songs read as love songs, but there is rarely ever a developed story or even conflict in the lyrics. This is true of “Take On Me,” and it is true of the songs on “Scoundrel Days.”
Personally, I have never minded the nonsense of the band’s lyrics. I enjoy the almost esoteric quality it can give them, adding to the otherworldly gothic feeling the band achieves in their best moments. Sometimes, they can still even happen upon a sort of incidental poetry. Even just scanning some of the title phrases from the album yields beautiful combinations of words such as, “You want to lose the weight of the wind,” from “The Weight of the Wind” or, “The soft rains of April are over,” from album closer “Soft Rains of April.”
Admittedly, it can also carry an element of humor. “We’re Looking for the Whales” is a transparently funny song from first sight of the title, and remains funny throughout its runtime as a poppy, upbeat song that reveals no hint of a metaphor regarding the titular whales, only unrelated vague comments that again would seem better suited for a love song. There’s even a surprise flute synth solo.
Sillier songs like these are not kept separate from the darker-sounding tracks, weaving the two tones together throughout the album. What results is a fun romp with plenty of lovely moody production, arrangement and performance.
Charlotte King can be contacted at
cking@kscequinox.com
