In the age of information, overexposure and accessibility, fans might expect a see-all-know-all relationship with musicians. But a growing number of artists are rebelling, taking back control of both their image and their interactions with the outside world. One such band are Sweden’s Goat, shrouded in masks and grandiose costumes, wilful obscurity at the heart of everything they do. Something Goat make no secret of is their preoccupation with world music.
On Requiem, their third album, they fine-tune this fixation to focus specifically on global folk, resulting in a glorious melting pot of experimentation. Psychedelic Lover opens with traditional Carnatic singing that melts away into a mesmeric, Latin-infused groove, while Trouble In The Streets’ sunny surf-pop conjures images about as far away from the band’s native Arctic as you can get. But while Requiem is less jagged than anything that’s come before it, trademarks are intact. Fuzzy guitars underpin the album, ritualistic chanting spills over into Riot-grrrl-esque yelping and they still never settle on an obvious melody. But Requiem’s pastoral warmth marks it as their most accessible, and accomplished, record to date.
