Time Machine productions

Skriv dEmerging once again from the misty crossroads of introspection and dreamlike reverie, Swedish duo Us and Them return with their most nuanced work to date, "The Lights and the Shadow". Long-time torchbearers of a fragile, timeless psychedelia steeped in folk melancholy and baroque shimmer, Britt and Anders continue to blur the lines between inner landscapes and outer realities. Since their debut with Fruits de Mer Records in 2009, the pair have steadily carved out a space uniquely their own – equal parts pastoral escape and melancholic reflection.

Their fourth full-length album, released on FdM's Friends of the Fish imprint, feels like the natural evolution of 2022's "…and I observed the blue sky", but the lens is darker now, more focused. Conceived in a world where the boundaries between light and shadow feel increasingly fragile, the songs on this record drift between moments of warmth and warning, serenity and tension. If you step carefully into "The Lights and the Shadow", you will experience that every harmony hides a ghost, and every melody leads somewhere just out of reach. The album contains 9 songs, let's have a closer look/listen…

"View From Sky Road" opens the album with a tranquil sigh, a pastoral daydream where birdsong drifts behind Britt's ethereal voice and a gentle acoustic melody carries us skyward. Pure serenity… Still rooted in folk's golden fields, "Around The Maypole (Once Again)", darkens the scenery just a touch. A wistful circling-back, where harmonies feel like faded memories and the acoustic licks recall rituals long past. A soft spiral around something sacred and lost. Things get moodier on "Get In The Swing", echoes of early-'70s British folk-psych (think Trees) drift through a mist of baroque instrumentation and haunted nostalgia, elegant, eerie, and utterly mesmerizing. Arguably the album's shadowy centerpiece is "Me And The Ones Before Me", mysterious and melancholic, it unravels like a psychedelic séance. Britt's spoken-word passage adds to the otherworldly pull – imagine Nick Cave (Murder Ballads period) lost in a mushroom folkie field. Beautifully strange and deeply affecting. The title track "Us And Them" walks a fine line between light and shadow. Acoustic psychedelia meets soft-focus folk-pop, constantly trying to break into the sun but tethered to twilight, one of the album's strongest moments. "If The Summer Lingers" shows a glimmer of light, at last. Despite its title, there's warmth in this melody — bittersweet but gently uplifting. It hums with acoustic simplicity, like a long-lost tune whistled in late August, knowing autumn waits around the bend… The duo tries a subtle shift into experimental folk territory with "Things Obvious To Other People", the drum machine lays a soft kraut-like pulse, while synth textures shimmer behind the acoustic frame. A blissful blend of tradition and electronics, dreamy, hypnotic, and quietly bold. The next one, "I Was A Wayward Child", is another descent into darker woodlands. Haunting vocal harmonies and hushed acoustics lead to a spellbinding, slightly sinister middle section. The monologue returns, conjuring Weird Folk vibes… Superb… The closer, "Tear Apart", stays in the shadowed garden. Acoustic, melancholic, and draped in medieval mist, this track leans into the band's storytelling instincts. Harmony vocals float like lost prayers, and the song fades out like a candle guttering in a stone chapel!

In conclusion, with "The Lights and the Shadow", Us and Them don't just offer a collection of songs — they craft a world suspended between the real and the unreal, the seen and the unseen. Us and Them have woven a fragile tapestry of half-light and haunted melodies, where every gentle harmony carries a hint of sorrow, and every pastoral escape is shadowed by the world we try to forget. This is not an album that offers comfort, but one that keeps you company in the silence, a soft, spectral soundtrack for those still dreaming in a world that's forgotten how. Let it play, and let yourself driftin.

Borders and Northumberland Culture Vulture 

This sonic, modern take on medieval minstrel music washes over the listener like a cleansing sound bath.Part modern electronica, part early music, this heady mix is a treat for the senses.Exploring both sides of life, the light and the dark, this collection would be a good soundtrack for a warm lazy summer's day or a cold winter's night alike. / Andrew Dickson