4AD Journal

Pre-order the Serena-Maneesh album for limited 12"

Having announced the forthcoming return of Serena-Maneesh, No.2: Abyss in B Minor, comes the news that any pre-orders from Insound for either the CD or LP of the record will come with a imported 12” from the Norwegian outfit, featuring the opening track from the record, ‘Ayisha Abyss’ (still available as a free download HERE) b/w ‘Call-Back From A Dream’.

To pre-order the record and get your hands on this limited UK release, click HERE.

Some more from Insound on the record:

“In this age, given the ease of bedroom recording, records like this one aren’t made very often. But this is no distended double-album; it may open with the eight-minute groove of “Ayisha Abyss,” which sounds like a caffeinated Can or something from Funkadelic’s Maggot Brain, but the whole album is so concise, so perfectly realised that it’s all over in 38 minutes and 45 seconds. Self-indulgent? No. Self-important? Yes, and rightly so.

No 2: Abyss In B Minor follows The Norwegian band’s self-titled debut on which they toured with everyone from Dandy Warhols to Nine Inch Nails. S-M mastermind Emile Nikolaisen spent over a year “in different locations with different people, capturing and gathering moments, failures, sounds.” Then, with the assistance of the likes of Nick Terry, who has worked with Klaxons and Primal Scream, and Can associate René Tinner, he set about mixing the results. “I Just Want To See Your Face” has a terrifying opening section reminiscent of XTRMNTR-era Primal Scream, before turning into an insanely twisted pop song. There are some incredible, memorable melodies in songs such as “D.I.W.S.W.T.T.D,” but the squalling menace of “Reprobate!” and “Blow Yr Brains In The Morning Rain,” the ethereal majesty of “Melody For Jaana” and the slow-motion nightmare of “Honeyjinx” are something else entirely.”

For information on Serena-Maneesh and future live dates, head over to 4AD.com.