Solace Distant

FreddeGredde

Solace Distant
Performed By FreddeGredde
Album UPC 7320470150412
CD Baby Track ID 8708657
Label White Knight Records
Released 2011-09-13
BPM 124
Rated 0
ISRC SE2ZF1100102
Year 2011
Spotify Plays 3,428
Writers
Writer Fredrik Larsson
Pub Co Fredrik Larsson
Composer Fredrik Larsson
ClearanceFacebook Sync License,Traditional Sync,YouTube Sync ServiceOne Stop
Rights Controlled Master and Publishing Grant
Rights One-Stop: Master + 100% Pub Grant
Original/Cover/Public Domain original
Country SWEDEN
Lyrics Language English

Description

FreddeGredde's debut album "Thirteen Eight" offers a fresh take on progressive rock, by blending catchy melodies and appealing soundscapes, with odd time signatures and unusual chord progressions.

Notes

Hailing from Gävle, Sweden, FreddeGredde is a solo project by Fredrik Larsson. The young artist initially rose to prominence in the early days of viral video revolution where his great musicianship gained attention on YouTube and generated millions of views on some of his most popular videos. Larsson's YouTube channel quickly became the number one subscribed channel in Sweden, but even though his viral video success began to fade over time, FreddeGredde was far from a one-trick pony and late 2009 was when we finally got to hear some of the artist's original material. Video versions of "Beside Me" and "The Wayfarer" showed clear tendencies towards an eclectic approach to songwriting and featured rapid shifts from emotionally charged ballads to heavy rock escapades.
It took almost two years for Larsson to execute his lifelong dream of recording and releasing his debut album, but it's clear that the time was well spent since "Thirteen Eight" is one of those rare debuts that only comes once or twice every decade. Not only has the artist managed to make a clear statement of intent but there is also a clear tendency towards fusing the worlds of art rock and pop music. The material shows a versatile approach which, in return, has potential of appealing just as much to fans of art music as to the casual listener.
The technical musicianship never overshadows and instead creates a way for song structures to expand beyond the simplistic verse/chorus approach that has been done since the dawn of rock music. Instrumental interludes are primarily used to enhance the overall experience instead of boasting about great instrumental skill, which unfortunately much too often becomes a common rookie mistake. "Thirteen Eight" also manages to dodge the bullet on sounding pretentious or overambitious, thanks to the fact that most of the material was written over a vast period, thus diminishing any possibility of sounding half-baked.
The album's track listing follows a simple but effective formula where heavy and more ambitious compositions are often followed by softer and emotionally-driven ballads. Hence merging the two different sides to FreddeGredde's music making. This can be seen as a disappointment to those who prefer only one of the two aspects that "Thirteen Eight" brings to the table, but most listeners will find this approach stimulating. Keep in mind that this is a fairly lengthy record!
Fans of epic compositions will find quite a treat right towards the end of the record with the lengthy tracks "Euphoria" and "Time Will Tell", 9 and 15 minutes respectively.
Both of these pieces take the listener on wild journeys through mind-boggling landscapes that will sit especially well with fans of progressive rock music. The placements of these two pieces might have been strategically ideal,in the context of the album, for such hefty and advanced compositions but it might have an onerous effect on newcomers to the direction of the extensive material. It would have been advisable to dismantle the potential blow by moving the two epics further away from each other or even splitting them up into shorter fragments, therefore improving the coherence of the album as a whole. Ultimately these types of concerns don't have much of a bearing in our digitalized world where most listeners can reorganize or even completely discard tracks as they seem fit.
FreddeGredde clearly delivers the goods on with his debut release which featured a smorgasbord of themes and emotions that will most likely appeal to most fans of rock music. It only remains to see how Larsson intends to follow up such a strong statement as "Thirteen Eight", my guess is that only time will tell!
- Alexander Peterson

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