We Say…
One of the most amazing things about songwriting is the way one solitary word can entirely shift the way you interpret the story someone is telling. It happens in How You Swallowed Your Anger, the stand-out moment of Black Sea Dahu’s stunning new EP, No Fire In The Sand. As Janine Cathrein sings, “I swore by my mother I wouldn’t believe in love…again”, that half whispered, “again”, changes everything, it morphs a tale of holding yourself back into one of heartache and the pain of the past. It’s the kind of subtle and emotive trick that the Swiss-songwriter and her band-mates pull off throughout No Fire In The Sand, a record writ large with the human experience, and all the emotions that come with it.
Producing the record was about the labour as much as the love, recorded in draining sessions in the near permanent daytime of their studio at the height of the Norwegian summer. The result is a record that glistens with its imperfections, guitars buzz and distort, vocals falter, crack and let the light shine through. Musically, it is a delightfully varied affair; the aforementioned How You Swallowed Your Anger is as raw and intimate at early Bon Iver, while Demian builds to a scintillating crescendo of military drums and electric guitars Explosions In The Sky would be proud of, and the title track is rich with delightful alt-country flourishes. With its ruminations on heart-ache and our own fallibility, No Fire In The Sand touches on the oldest and most universal human experiences of all, a world where we are all welcomed to drink in these songs and remember in music as in life, we are never entirely alone in our struggles.
They Say…
FTR: For those who don’t know who are Black Sea Dahu?
We are a six-piece Indie Folk band from Zurich, Switzerland. Three of us are siblings. We’ve been touring a lot in the last 12 months and we only don’t fight all the time because we are busy laughing.
FTR: What can you remember about your first show?
I don’t even remember my first show. Maybe it was in a vegan café in Zurich?
FTR: Why do you make music? Why not another art form?
Because it gives me a reason to live. We do as much as we can “in-house” so to speak, records, merch, social media content. We like to be involved in all aspects of the creative process. But I don’t function without music, that’s why.
FTR: What can people expect from the Black Sea Dahu live show?
Polyphonic, melancholic songs that accompany you like film music through your own life and you may think about your own personal dreams, your past, your goals in life.
FTR: What’s next for Black Sea Dahu?
Touring, touring, touring Europe. And we’re releasing a new record end of September: No Fire in the Sand EP.
They Listen To…
1. Patrick Watson – Melody Noir
2. Rio – The Knife
3. Hanreti – Shine On
4. Scott Matthews – Let’s get you home
5. Thom Yorke – Black Swan
No Fire In The Sand is out September 27th via Mouthwatering Records. Click HERE for more information on Black Sea Dahu.
For The Rabbits 