The Arafnas seem to have been in a romantic mood. November Növelet already was their softer project, but on their latest album both the sound and even more so: the lyrics, seem to have softened somewhat more.
Mrs. Arafna sings on all tracks. Now there is something of a risk, because her voice is not my favourite element of the music of the Arafnas. It sound like she has a herself photographed: a bit dull. (Perhaps on purpose?) Often I am indifferent to them (not annoyed, not overjoyed), here and there her voice does add a good element to the music, so how about on “The World In Devotion”?
The album opens with a soft and not too interesting track/song. After “Be Gratefull To Your Murderer” the tempo goes up and most of the rest of the music is mid-tempo and the sound is very much like the current sound of NN. The music is nicely minimalistic and analogues. However the video that was released recently seemed to have suggested otherwise, NN does not really lean towards the popular sound of “minimal wave”. Mr. and mrs. Arafna keep doing their own thing. The rhythms are relatively complex in some tracks, nice things happen on the background, some songs have simple but catchy melodies and mrs. Arafna sings (and in the video: dances) away, most of the time resulting in nice and moody soft dance songs that will work well on “minimal wave” dancefloors and radio-shows. There may not be a highlight on this album such as the title song of “Magic”, but overall “The World In Devotion” is a more than proper album showing the furry sound of the couple that names itself Arafna.
Links: Haus Arafna, Galakthorrö
