Ost & Kjex Take Freedom to Another Level

Oooooooooh YEAH! That’s only the start of what happens when you press play on ‘Freedom Wig’, the new album from Norwegian Cheese-sters Ost & Kjex. Following on from their debut, the hilariously entitled ‘Some But Not All Cheese Comes From The Moon’ (hence the pun), and it’s follow up, ‘Cajun Lunch’, the OK boys (sorry, can’t resist) have finally stopped eating and gone out clubbing instead (probably to work off all the calorific consumption from all the food!).

‘Freedom Wig’ is electronic pop at its #Scandiravian best, fusing club-mixes with honky tonk, and featuring cameos from some of the uber-coolist vocalists in Nordic paradise.

The album opener ‘Honky Tonk’ takes American Southwest tinny piano, muddles it with pulsing waves of trance, intermittent splashes of synth and frenergetic drum beats. The vocal is Americana dude with a few bourbons on board giving it some added huskiness. Parteee.

Ost & Kjex certainly have their eyes on the prize and getting Anne Lise Frokedal on board was one seriously canny move. Frokedal, currently all over music media on foot of the release of her EP, ‘I See You’, is one of Norway’s hottest female vocalists, and her contribution to the two tracks on which she features, cannot be underestimated.

My favourite of the two, and for me one of the best tracks on the album, is the dance oriented ‘Le Mur de Pierre’. It has a vibrant club sound softened around the edges by blurry harmonies, and overlaid by a melodic duet. The vibe is chilled and the sound moreish – this is one you’ll want to hit replay on more than once or twice.

‘Queen of Europe is the second Frokedal-fest. It’s a percussion fuelled dance track which for the first four minutes is “instrument lite”, it then plunges headlong into a full on #tuuuune. Addictive beats, pulses of electronica and misty vocals, are sprinkled with liberal doses of piano sequences.

This is “club” given elegance by the inclusion of some classy keys – there is some seriously striking piano playing from 8+. These graceful and competent musical interludes set Ost & Kjex apart in the electronic-dance genre. Stretching over 11+ minutes this is a long one, but it’s one mighty fine track.

The awesome Hanne Kolsto also makes a contribution to the album, adding a deliciously inviting vocal to the hypnotic ‘Down River’, which in my opinion is the best track on the album. Featuring the seriously stunning “xylophone sounds” of the marimba, this is one funked up gospel come jungle-dance track and I love it. As if all that wasn’t enough, it also includes sumptuous string arrangements. ‘Down River’ is a fantastically fascinating track, and if it doesn’t get your adrenalin rushing and your toes tapping, then dude, you don’t have a pulse!

‘Freedom Wig’ globe trots it’s away across the musical continents, collecting sample sounds of everything from blues to gospel, and from funk to club, along the way. It is a compilation of wonderful earthy sounds, sky high synths, gentle piano motifs, emotive instrumentation and wickedly clever arrangements. Piled on top are lashings of varied and engaging vocals that add even more personality to music already chock full with atmosphere and character.

I didn’t think I’d buy into this album, now I can’t stop playing it.
Ost & Kjex are electronic magicians that have cast their spell on me – I’m hooked, and now I want more.

‘Freedom Wig’ is currently on release in Norway and will make its UK debut on 11th December.

COMMENTS