GutterPutter

You seldom hear much about the Austrian music scene in the Western hemisphere at least when it comes to the mainstream. People would more likely think about the country’s historical significance with its empire and Germanic control than its cultural impact. That cultural legacy is more to do with the Vienna Opera House or the series of classically trained composers. Yet that doesn’t mean to say that some artists are not worth looking into. One is always welcome to dig in to find the diamonds under the rough if they’re tired of the British/American dominance in much of popular music.

I’m thinking especially of 5K HD, an art pop group hailing from Vienna who would often mix classically inspired techniques with an avant-garde loom of studio manipulation. Their first two albums, released in 2017 & 2019, are mostly categorised as art pop with strong progressive influences being thrown into the mix with some glitchy production. Creation Eats Creator is something that is on the left field in their area where, as the parenthetical comment suggests, the production is down to a minimum. What there is instead are more stripped-down versions of some of the band’s past songs with keyboard & stringed compartments. Don’t be fooled by how unknown 5K HD are prior to this record. They might not be the biggest name to have ever come out of Austria, but there is a certain jaggedness in the way that the music is structured that makes for a low-key recommendation in what is otherwise a competitive year of 2021.

Taking ‘Justice’ for an example, there is a certain magic that can be found in its repetitive arpeggio from the piano, or the precise and clean drumming. The themes of song, or the whole record as a matter of fact, isn’t anything to worth gushing about nor are they the most intellectually driven. Yet, the cohesiveness of the instrumentation compliments the lyrical content that takes the focus of love to a different realm – one that revolves around a co-dependent relationship. The start-stop technique for each piece of the composition only adds to the charisma of the song. It’s as if there’s something mechanical about the structure even without the significant production alteration.

The classical influence on the record is something to take notes around such as in the beginning of ‘Selfish Lover’ that consists purely of the vibrato strings of the cello against the pulsating trumpet which rings out minimalist songwriting. The snare from the drum against the double bass in ‘Boulevard’ proves to be slick in providing weight to singer Mira Kovacs’s gentle vocal performance – one that contrasts to the theme of a fragile relationship on a verge of becoming toxic. The piano-driven ‘Effortlessly’ sees Kovacs giving her all in hitting the high notes against the swooning horn that sounds like it’s out of a morose jazz record. Throw in the vulgarly titled ‘Happy Fxxxing Life’ which sees a certain serenity in the tone of Kovacs’s voice with a nice touch of male falsetto in the chorus which creates a catchy effect between the solo trumpet performance. It’s as if 5K HD were made for the elegance of chamber pop.

While the band may try to distance away from their production-heavy past, it doesn’t mean to infer that they’ll abandon their experimental endeavours entirely. ‘In, Out’ has a very exotic melody in the double bass performance & its sparse yet impactful use of the trumpet carry some impression of a Latin-based music with even a bit of noise in the end. ‘High Performer’ starts out as the usual, but the ending does start to come off as being rather wacky as the attempted crescendo feels like a poorly executed mix between jazz & baroque extravagance. ‘Crazy Talk’ sees the male vocal backing expanding more over the song rather than being reserved for the chorus like ‘Effortlessly’ & this time, the performance starts to give in more to the free-flowing state of jazz than anywhere in the album. Lastly, ‘What If I’ sees its song structure be turned inside out from the disharmonious cacophony between 2-3 minutes into the song or the cut between minimal orchestration performance to include the harmonic synergy between Kovacs’s singing, the non-stop arpeggiated piano chords, & the vibrato of the violin just before.

5K HD had, in their own way, concocted a certain pop album that isn’t exactly the most accessible despite having many conventions that you would’ve considered as mainstream-friendly. You’ve got the piano, the near-pitch-perfect singing, the classically equipped orchestration that’s small, even the lyrics is ultimately around love in one way or the other. Instead, they tamper with the traits to the point where they’ve made a parody out of it. The balance between orderliness & chaos have been rampant, the beautiful singing is subverted by the cult-like, even manipulative presentation of love from the abuser’s perspective, the orchestration can twist the musical composition to its most unpredictable.

Creation Eats Creator might not be the most original in its innovation. It might not be the most literary in its writing, it might not even be home to some of the most fun singles of this year like with Magdalena Bay or underscores, let alone Little Simz. What it might well be however is that it’s among one of the most personality-filled record of the year, keeping its experimentation in check with its catchiness while its showmanship still retains a form of technicality in them. 5K HD might have well deserve more recognition in the way that they’ve crafted this album. It swings back & forth in its form without any hints whatsoever & that’s when the satisfaction starts to kick in when you first listen to it. Fans of art pop are going to enjoy this one for certain. I can guarantee you the same effect happened for me.