Arriving in a beautifully simplistic yet wonderfully intriguing sleeve with slightly off focus photography that has a very 70’s homely feel to it, comes a new release of the Swedish project Dusa.  Named ‘Ljung’ (Swedish for Heather I believe and also a family surname), the album contains two long tracks of approximately 16 minutes each and is accompanied by 7 postcards and a 12” picture insert which all carry through the imagery and aesthetic already created with the sleeves artwork.  Before you even put the stylus on the vinyl you can’t help but be impressed with artwork alone and the imagery it plays with. I remember when I first received ‘Ljung’ just looking at the artwork and accompanying insert/postcards with a real curiosity trying to workout out what is was all about.  It was almost like discovering some discarded photo collection and trying to piece together a story or some sort of history for the images you’ve just found.

Musically the two tracks presented on ‘Ljung’ are the audible version of looking through this old and rediscovered photo album with fragments of sounds mirroring the captured memories that the photos held secure.  Glimpses of sounds and fragmented structures float dreamlike into one other blurring the edges of where on stops and one begins. Noises collide and melt into ambient structures with folky edging.  Haunting echoes of distorted memories morph with fractured samples, musical interludes and distant snippets of strained sounds to create an almost random and delicate cacophony of noises and music combined.

However it soon becomes apparent that each element isn’t thrown randomly together. In fact, each untitled track is constructed in such away that the composer/author is piecing them together to tell a story or at least portray a certain time in their past, with each note and sound, no mater how small, making up an essential part of the larger picture. Because of this, ‘Ljung’ has an immensely personal feel to it, which isn’t necessarily accessible straight away.  In fact it needs a real level of commitment and perseverance to work through the album before all of the pieces start to fit together to create a full picture.  A picture, however that is still blurred and out of focus with pieces missing or just doesn’t fit correctly together. 

Limited to only 300 copies with the first 103 coming with an additional vintage (1900-1950) postcards, I’m certain  ‘Ljung’ will disappear into obscurity in the not to distant future so is well worth tracking down a copy whilst you have the chance.