Supersweet

Oh No Ono

Eggs

Label: Leaf

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Suspicions that the name of this band might contain some veiled Beatles reference are more or less confirmed at the start of this, the second album from the Danish five-piece.

‘Eleanor Speaks’ sounds like the sort of direction George Harrison would have liked to have dragged The Beatles in had they not imploded in 1970, with its sitar signature and sprinkling of Indian flavours. Indeed, maybe the band name hints at what Oh No Ono believe was the cause of that implosion. They wouldn’t be alone.

Rumour has it the band cooped themselves up for nine months in a studio on a small Danish island to record this album, and if second track ‘Swim’ is anything to go by, they may well have tried to faithfully re-create the inspiration that produced the likes of Sgt. Pepper by taking a couple of suitcases of LSD with them.

That said, Eggs is far from just an exercise in pointless psychedelia. Arrangements are orchestral and epic, with strings and choirs recorded in churches and constant segment changes throughout each track.

‘Internet Warrior’ bounces along with Flaming Lips gusto, sounding like the sort of band Yoshimi herself might have played in during her time off from fighting giant pink robots, while ‘Icicles’ is an Owen ‘Final Fantasy’ Pallett re-imagining of ‘Eleanor Rigby’, with a chorus donated by Passion Pit.

The intro to ‘The Wave Ballet’, meanwhile, feels like you’ve unexpectedly stumbled into a church during an opening hymn sung by a particularly talented congregation, before the vicar, dressed in luminous yellow, gives the organist the nod to up the tempo into some serious prog worship.

Some albums are instantly likeable but short-lived in their attraction, while others are slow-growers with more longevity. Eggs almost actively repels less than committed listeners, but there is something compelling here that will make you want to pry further and further with each listen. No two tracks are the same, and there is very little that is like the output of any other band, at least contemporarily. Every corner of every song has been painstakingly arranged until it fully complements the bigger picture. It could almost be the soundtrack to a musical, the mood of each piece both changing with the story and telling it at the same time.

Maybe that’s it, the reference in the band name: Eggs is the soundtrack to the musical of Yoko Ono’s life, following her through unfathomable modern art installations and a relationship with a world-famous musician whose mind has been bent by acid. If it is, penultimate track ‘Eve’ is her lament outside the Dakota building following the shooting of her soulmate, and near-ten minute closer ‘Beelitz’ the montage of her remaining life as she tries to piece it back together.

Eggs is not for the faint-hearted, or those who like a hook, but if you’re willing to sit down with no other distraction and turn it up loud, you might just find a new jewel in your collection’s crown.  - Patrick Burke