Buzzin Electronic Music

Alaska In Winter – Holiday – album review

Alaska In Winter: Holiday

After teaming up with Zach Condon of Beirut, Heather Trost of A Hawk And A Hacksaw and other friends, art student Brandon Bethancourt spent some time recording his debut album Dance Party In The Balkans in an idolated cabin on the south coast of Alaska.

His follow-up album Holiday, though, recorded under the same name of Alaska In Winter was recorded after Bethancourt gave up his job and moved to Berlin, about whose influence Bethancourt says:

“Berlin’s electronic music definitely played a big part with this record, as well as the fact that I didn’t have any access to instruments while I was living there so my music turned out very Berlinesque – very electronic… The all night dance marathons have been big inspirations.”

Alaska In Winter’s other influences come from years of growing up in the American South West as well as an Arabian influence from Bethancourt’s parents. Mixing this with the kind of Balkan influenced music that Condon’s Beirut is famous for (Condon appears on ‘Close Your Eyes’)and then filtering it all through the vibrant electronic scene of Berlin may not be something that sounds normal or even remotely appealing, but on Holiday, it is clear that Bethancourt has immersed himself fully in, and entirely fallen for the electronic scene, for it sounds so natural that it is hard to question.

Holiday’s opener ‘We Are Blind And Riding The Merry-Go-Round’ is a perfect example of the clash of genres on the album. Opening with a Balkan ukulele, it transforms into a slow, brooding and understated piece of electronic, Bethancourt’s vocals filtered though a vocal machine to obscure their clarity.

And understated is perhaps the best word to describe the Alaska In Winter project. Whilst these are synthy, techno-inspired tunes, the vocals remain melancholy and hidden between dampened 80s dance keyboards and muffled bass drums. ‘Speed Boat To Heaven’ pulses along discreetly, with Bethancourt’s vocals subtly affecting, whilst ‘Highlander Pt. 1’ is a duet with Kyra LaMariana whose vocals heart-achingly cut through the buzz of synths and drums.

The trilogy of songsentitled ‘Streetgang’ are ominously slow, before they speed off into a sliding, frantic keyboard riff. ‘Horsey Horse Pt.2’ ends Holiday on a high, the beats stronger than before and the sound more uplifting.

Perhaps the clash of German electronic music and these more melancholy sounds is what makes Alaska In Winter so fascinating. The hybrid of ecstatic nights and peaceful reflection makes for a wonderful representation of an inner voice trying to be heard through the buzz of a new, exciting and foreign city.

For your next break why not enjoy a skiing holiday?