In his latest album, “Sauna,” Phil Elverum explores one of the great mysteries of life — where people fit in. Written under the name Mount Eerie, “Sauna” has the same wistful contemplation and grandiose swells of Eerie’s earlier works, balanced by several meditative songs set to winding lyrics about daily living.
Ever since his days as The Microphones, Elverum has crafted songs that feel dated, yet timeless, world-weary but filled with curiosity and wonderment. Mount Eerie’s music forms a kind of microcosm in itself, interspersed with natural imagery and what it means to live with the burden of consciousness.
The album’s subject matter is in day-to-day life, but Eerie takes these seemingly humdrum events and turns them into something strange and sometimes ominous. Throughout the album, there are samples of field recordings — fire crackling, jet engines flying overhead, waves crashing in the distance — to remind listeners that these small sounds are what make up the whole picture of reality.
The release of “Sauna” marks the end of Elverum’s two-and-a-half year silence since the 2012 releases of “Clear Moon” and “Ocean Roar.” There are repeating themes that reveal themselves throughout his music and “Sauna” has all the hallmarks — soft spoken words, pastoral lyrics, existential statements, the occasional cymbal crash and overblown chords. As is the case with Eerie’s other albums, “Sauna” is a contemplative set of songs which reflect on mortality and meaning, and it holds up well.
In the past, Eerie gave succinct bits of authoritative wisdom like some sort of oracle, but in “Sauna,” his introspective remarks are more of observations. Eerie merely suggests rather than declares symbolism, as he did in past albums, to convey an understanding of omnipresence and insurmountable forces outside ourselves.
The title track “Sauna” introduces the album with a deep sigh that sounds somewhere between resignation and tired acceptance. Its ten minute running time is comprised of smooth hums and a single organ note hovering in place, later joined by a thick horn which drops in and out in time. One unique layer to “Sauna,” is the addition of backup singers whose soft voices soothe and calm, and who contrast starkly to the other harsh tones lurking in the background.
Shoegaze-meets-heavy metal track “Boat” comes on like a tornado that blew up out of nowhere, with a sheet-like rain of guitar and a thick blanket of sound encircling the listener before quickly passing on. It’s a high point of the album, and highlights the ever-subtle influences Eerie incorporates into his sound.
Mount Eerie’s music is both dense and thin at the same time. His songs are beautiful and scary in the same way that the universe and life are — revealing instances of startling clarity amidst confusion. “Pumpkin” is a short guitar and voice piece leaning on the minimalist side, like many of Eerie’s more straightforward songs, while “This” represents the dichotomy of light and darkness, with fluttering flutes one minute and overwhelming gloom bearing down the next.
There are moments when the mood is downright sinister. “Spring,” for instance, consists of a heavily distorted drone with a high pitch note striking along beside it, until the song opens up with a lighter sing-speak recitation. “Books,” on the other hand, starts out with playful plucks but shifts at the sound of a page being torn to a graver tone, before ultimately dying out.
Mount Eerie provides a perspective on the world — that it is often big and confusing — with their album “Sauna.” which one can use to survey the landscape of trials and trivialities that is life.
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