Amiina - Fantômas album review: a spooky, beautiful classical, post-rock cocktail

Written as the score for a centenary screening of Fantômas, Louis Feuillade's famous 1913 film serial, this is a darker, more serious side to the Icelandic quintet who stepped into the limelight as Sigur Ros's string accompanists before earning an audience of their own with two unique albums of gentle, melody-focused, experimentation.

Drawing on the dastardly title character’s fictional escapades which include robbery, blackmail and murder, the 11 tracks fuse violin, cello, drums, percussion, metallophone, table harp, ukulele and electronics into a kind of contemporary classical, post-rock cocktail.

Imagine a downsized Godspeed You! Black Emperor making music while the kids sleep upstairs, then wallow in the gorgeous textures, smart leitmotifs, intricate details and underlying aura of mystery. Quietly spooktacular.

[ amiina.com ]