Pia Fraus is a huge deal and it's been like this for 20 years now - until the dawn of Holy Motors, they were the only Estonian dream pop/rock band present within the world offstream audience's mindset, not to mention that they also run the resourceful music label Seksound. Now, to celebrate the impressive anniversary, the artists released the debut album Wonder What It's Like from 2001 in a new, reworked version cleverly entitled Now You Know It Still Feels the Same.
The track list is not exactly the same as the original release, but all the songs were written between 1999 and 2000 when the artists were still in their teenagehood when "most things happened by accident". This re-work is supposed to propose an agreement between the youngster's happy and enthusiastic music with the more experienced artist's workshop - it doesn't only sound great, I bet it must've been a fun and nostalgic trip down the line for the artists. And you can easily hear that there's no dissonance here, the, probably, almost 40-years-olds sound so energetic (which is so well audible in the almost punk-like Obnoxious) and cute, definitely having fun (re)making those songs.
As all Pia Fraus' fans know, listening to their albums means dealing with dream pop/twee atmosphere of carefree melodies and sunny vibes with slightly louder, guitar-based attire. I feel like those compositions are a bit faster and livelier than what the Estonians do these days, but the signature dreamy vibes are surely there. Especially in those, rare here, moments of slower and more atmospheric music, In Mind or the second part of Swim in Eyes are a reminder that there's still a place for melancholy in youth. Or maybe it's how we see it from our perspective?
Now You Know It Still Feels the Same costs 10 EUR.
Check: Obnoxious
Country: Estonia
Genre: twee dream pop
Label: Seksound