Music for dreaming by Pekka Laine & The Enchanted in Slumberland - second album released via Svart Records in September

One thing is for sure: there is no specific genre or style in which this second release from guitarist/composer Pekka Laine can be categorized. But that doesn't mean we're dealing with a mish-mash here. The Helsinki-based sonic alchemist has been honing his vision of cinematic instrumental rock and psychedelic mood music as a celebrated figure in the Finnish independent music scene since the 1990s. His solo debut, The Enchanted Guitar of Pekka Laine (2021), struck a chord in the Finnish music media with its adventurous cocktail of sinister and deliciously over-the-top 1960s guitar tones and raw, homemade Lo-Fi electronica to lush psych-rock. Backed by the various permutations of his stellar six-piece live band The Enchanted, Pekka Laine has now taken this fascinating sonic saga to a whole new level.

Like the album's title, Pekka Laine & The Enchanted in Slumberland - heavily inspired by the super-trippy Little Nemo comic strip classic from 1905 - its sound, bursting with echoing guitars and swirling Technicolor landscapes, is more than anything else a gateway to the realm of imagination and dreams. And as we all know, anything can happen in a dream. A Krautrock inferno in Neu/Harmonia-vein can turn into a disco scorcher from the brain of maverick producer Joe Meek, a melodramatic piece of a Giallo score can easily become a haunting homage to the wrecking crew or the perfect score for a sex education film composed by Björn Olsson and Lee Hazlewood. In his search for the perfect soundtrack for dreams, Laine decided NOT to play it safe. Adding vocals to an instrumental setting is a tricky business, it could break the spell, or in this case, the enchantment. Not to worry. The quirky, robotic 'Zapp on bad weed' hook on 'Malibu Beach' puts the icing on the cake of this underwater disco smash, while the soulful vocals on 'Sorrow and Pain' make this brooding gospel/western theme a pivotal point on this seriously multi-layered yet entertaining album. In case you were wondering, no, this is not the ghost of Gil Scott Heron singing. The man hitting the ball out of the park with his deep, resonant voice is Houston-born saxophonist and vocalist Jay Nemor, who currently resides in Umeå, Sweden.

Pekka Laine's second album Pekka Laine & The Enchanted in Slumberland will be released on 27^th of September 2024 digitally, CD and in three different vinyl versions: on a classic black vinyl, wonderful transparent green vinyl, and limited edition of 150 white/green/orange marble vinyl hand-crafted by Pekka Laine himself at Helsingin Levypuristamo vinyl pressing plant. This limited edition is available only at the Svart Records webstore.