Bel Canto - Biography
Formed in the far northern town of Tromsø, Norway, dreampop and trance-pop band Bel Canto issued six studio albums between 1987 and 2002. The group formed in 1985 and originally consisted of singer Anneli Drecker, and keyboardists Nils Johansen and Geir Jenssen.
Bel Canto signed to Canadian electronic/industrial label Nettwerk, joining the likes of Skinny Puppy and Chris and Cosey. However, their debut album, White-Out Conditions (1987 Nettwerk), reveals an act that isn't as edgy or experimental as their roster mates. Instead, the group lie at the cross-section of gothic rock and synthpop. Also incorporating a Scandinavian melodic sensibility and a professed interest in the Earth's energy fields, Bel Canto hint at the Goa trance movement that was to emerge in the early '90s. What they most sound like on their debut is a synth-heavy version of their darkwave contemporaries, Dead Can Dance. Like Lisa Gerrard, Anneli Drecker possesses a rich alto that soars beautifully when she unleashes her heavenly falsetto. White-Out Conditions reveals plenty of other influences, as well. The moody "Dreaming Girl" sounds like Siouxsie Sioux fronting Depeche Mode, circa Some Great Reward. With a brooding sax solo, atmospheric follow-up, "Without You," is a spare and chilly electro-blues à la Yaz. Hailing from a town that launched many early Arctic explorations, Bel Canto are the perfect band to record a song called "Baltic Ice-Breaker." With its slow, industrial air of menace and minor-keyed contour, the music is ideally paired to ominous lines like, "Corpses are floating up in your wake" and "A voice disappears with the wind." Then comes the verdict: "You're frozen to death."
Bel Canto's sophomore album, Birds of Passage (1989 Nettwerk), finds the band leaning more on the medieval flavors they introduced on their debut. With a plodding tympani beat and gothic horns, "Dewy Fields" sounds like an out-take from Dead Can Dance's Within the Realm of a Dying Sun. Fortunately, the band don't fall easily into a rut. The daydreamy "Continuum" rides an elastic rhythm of rippling percussion, while piano fills trickle in and out of the mix. The title track, meanwhile, is hypnotic trance-pop that follows in the tradition of Tangerine Dream. Closing cut "Time Without End" again hints at their 4AD contemporaries, before invoking a melancholy, Prokofiev-like oboe melody.
Between albums, Geir Jenssen left the band to pursue a solo career under the moniker Biosphere. Anneli Drecker and Nils Johansen carried on as Bel Canto, releasing their third album three years later, Shimmering, Warm and Bright (1992 Dali). The album's title may have also been the duo's mission statement. While the record retains Bel Canto's core sound, it also moves firmly in a new direction. Replacing the darkness and melodrama that imbued much of their earlier material are sunnier tonalities and a stronger emphasis on the band's dance elements. Not that this a dance record, mind you. Shimmering, Warm and Bright is still largely about atmosphere and mood, as Johansen's programmed beats and melodies create a warm (and, yes, shimmering and sometimes bright) bed of sumptuous sound to mingle with Drecker's lovely, overdubbed vocals. The title track is a particular highlight, melding mid-tempo trance to skittering percussion and a delicious vocal that hints at Middle Eastern and Bulgarian melodies.
Four years later, Bel Canto issued their fourth full-length, Magic Box (1996 Lava). With the electronica era at its peak, Bel Canto fully embrace their trance side. Gone entirely are the electro-orchestral elements that informed their first two albums, in particular, but also the Shimmering, Warm and Bright. "Freelunch in the Jungle" boogies with a hip-swaying, Afro-Cuban rhythm that the group probably would've found appalling a decade earlier, but which actually works well here. On the other end of the spectrum is "Sleepwalker," a corpuscular chill-out track. "Bombay" nods too bluntly towards its titular sonic reference, layering in canned tablas and Bollywood 101 strings in a way that would make Talvin Singh yawn. On more than one occasion, the album dips into pleasant, lightweight adult pop terrain, particularly on "Big Belly Butterflies" and "Kiss of Spring." Though they shed their gothic pretensions, Bel Canto also lost some of their edge.
Two years later, the band returned with album number five, Rush (1998 EMI). "Idly I De-Ice" is as lovely and nebulous as the Northern Lights, reminding us that Bel Canto come from the Arctic Circle, instead of Ibiza. The appropriately titled "Rush" offers a mad flurry of congas and a rubbery bassline to go along with its propulsive-yet-narcotic vibe. These high points, however, are pitted against the album's share of duds. "All I Want to Do" is a spacey ballad with no direction, while "Hearts Unite" ropes in some ill-advised electro-funk rhythms that sound like factory presets from a mid-line synth. On the balance, Rush isn't a bad album, but it's also far from a career highlight.
Two years later, Anneli Drecker issued her debut solo album, Tundra (2000 EMI). A Bel Canto compilation, Retrospect (2001 EMI), emerged the following year. Drecker then rejoined Nils Johansen for Bel Canto's sixth album, Dorothy's Victory (2002 EMI). Once again, the duo have metamorphosed. Following a logical line of progression, Bel Canto drop the trance of their mid- and late-1990s work, placing their adult pop side in stark relief. The result is a more consistent album than Rush, but it's also one that almost entirely leaves behind the band's darker, alternative side. Though Bel Canto carved a straight path to arrive at the easygoing programmed pop of Dorothy's Victory, the only trace of White-Out Conditions that remains is Drecker's voice, which she still uses beautifully across complementary registers.
Though nominally active through occasional performances and songwriting sessions, Bel Canto have not released a new album in eight years, which is by far their longest stretch of non-productivity. Nonetheless, their body of work — especially their late '80s and early '90s albums — ensures the band's legacy as Norway's premier export of moody Scandinavian synthpop, dreampop, and Goa trance.