Single of the Week: Smerz / Half Life
Norwegian electronic outfit Smerz are relatively new on the scene, but it’s hard to tell from their music. Their tracks are polished, enigmatic and all together something else; the latest offering from the duo, Half Life, being no exception.
Combining stuttering beats and seductive vocals, Half Life runs on an insistent and precarious energy. Unsettling synthesizers and scattered percussion are juxtaposed with the atmospheric, murmuring vocals of band members Catharina Stoltenberg and Henriette Motzfeldt, evoking a feeling of urgency and power that seems almost unhinged.
Half Life is a hybrid; the lovechild of electronica and experimentalism at its finest. If I didn’t know that this track was made by Smerz, I would guess its parents to be fellow Norwegian artist Jenny Hval, known for her eccentric baroque pop creations, and French producer/vocalist Coucou Chloe, whose frenetic work induces spinning heads and thumping hearts.
Smerz leaves you breathless and craving more at the song’s end, wondering just when you can get your next fix of their cosmic beat making.
Watch the video for Half Life below.
