If you don’t know anything about Estonia, you need to. It boasts the lowest population density in Europe. It is a country with exceptional credentials in the sport of competitive wife-carrying, despite there being more women than men. Public transport is free. The p2p file sharing software Kazaa was invented there.
There’s also a band from the capital, Tallinn, that go by the name of Kaschalot. Started as a one-man-band bedroom project and slowly unfolding to a live quartet, Kaschalot delivers a blend of melancholic and pop sounding melodies mixed with heavy guitar riffs and hard hitting drums patterns, complemented by diversified song structures. Whale Songs is the band’s first foray into feature length, and this week we’re kicking off with an exclusive listen for y’all.
Whale Songs was tracked during spring break at the high school where guitarist Sulo Kiivit works as a teacher. Don’t let the DIY approach fool you, this is an aurally rich and beguiling listen. You’ll be all over this album faster than you can say ‘suhtlemisraskused’, ‘tuletõrjepumbajaam’, and ‘tööstusrealiseerimiskeskus’. Yes, we learnt all these words from the band.
Kaschalot’s debut LP ‘Whale Songs’ comes out later this month. Be sure to click the Follow button on their Bandcamp page to get up-to-date, or keep up to date with them on vk.