Tobias Lilja Delirium Portraits CATMD191

'Delirium Portraits' is Tobias Lilja's third album and second for the n5MD imprint. Those familiar with his previous, 'Time is on My Side' (2007), might find a few surprises on 'Delirium Portraits'. Tobias' omnipresent ambient elements are there, but he's expanded his palette to include more beat oriented structures. Some songs could almost, with a bit of good will, pass as house or techno. But as always with Tobias, there's more to the story. That dark element of an almost serene melancholy is just as present as ever, but the mood has been expanded with glimpses of something almost resembling black irony or maybe even a dark, twisted sense of humor. The dynamics have also changed, become more subtly experimental, at times almost playful, giving the songs a feeling of build up and elusiveness. Each plunging the listener into a parallel universe and time zone. Lyrically Delirium Portraits sees Tobias moving away from introspection and more in the direction of story telling. We meet a mad scientist obsessed by tibetan temple bells, we get to hear a bitter tale of eating disorders and we're given the painful story of the loss of a dear friend. All delivered by a voice that blends perfectly with the music adding to the element of deep resonance. And yet, at the same time, there's that element of dance music with beats that will have your head bobbing and your feet stomping. Songs that get under your skin and stay there. [Learn more about Tobias Lilja...]

de:bug

Das sitzt der Rezensent in der Patsche. 2007 feierte ich das erste Album von Herrn Lilja, kann die CD aber nicht mehr finden. Verdammte Digitalisierung. Also ein frischer Start. Damals fiel der Name Bruce Gilbert, das leuchtet mir heute nicht mehr so richtig ein, toll sind die Delirium Portraits dennoch. Hier beherrscht jemand das Format Techno-Song perfekt. Und ja, vo diesem zugegebenermaßen gruseligen Wort braucht man gar keine Angst zu haben. Exaltiert bis über die Hutkrempe schlägt Lilja einen Haken nach dem nächsten, die Maschinen blubbern, der Bass schiebt und alles ist rund. Hätte Safety Scissors damals … egal. Damals resümierte ich, dass Album sei mit das Beste gewesen in diesem Monat. Das geht mir heute wieder so. textura

It's been four years since Tobias Lilja's second album Time is on My Side appeared, so no one should be too surprised to hear that Delirium Portraits brings with it some changes. Most obviously, the new material finds Lilja adding a pronounced beat dimension to his song forms and vocal melodies, resulting in an idiosyncratic techno-pop hybrid. That combination becomes even more unusual when one factors in the gothic and macabre tone of his songwriting (in another's hands, the mood of “Birthday Cake” would be celebratory; in Lilja's, it's nightmarish).

It all adds up to a striking hour-long collection, where intricate set-pieces such as “North” (which Lilja animates with tight house rhythms) and “Love Song” (a dark torch song introduced by dramatic piano chords) seem to straddle both realms in equal manner. Without any compromise to its song-like structure, “Spineless” nevertheless includes mechano rhythms that gradually morph into a driving techno pulse, while “Birthday Cake” likewise works its initiating lope into a hard-edged slam. “No Death Star,” on the other hand, includes beat elements that hit so hard, the song could conceivably find its way into a raucous club mix—not the first context that comes to mind when the name Tobias Lilja is mentioned. The plodding closer “Morocco,” on the other hand, downplays beats and concentrates instead—during the closing moments especially—on Lilja's more symphonic side.

His distinctive vocalizing is present, as is his penchant for arrangements densely built up with pianos, synthesizers, and electronics, though now beat patterns form part of the mix. One of the album's most memorable pieces is also, at ten minutes, its longest: “These Bells,” a viral shoegaze-house number that unspools at a skin-crawling pace in its opening half and then jumps to attention when acidy beats kick in during the wobbly, rave-tinged second. There's an intensity about the hour-long album's sound that makes the presence of a brief piano-based instrumental, “Ellen's Theme,” all the more welcome, even if it too is rather foreboding in tone. Presumably the album title is meant to refer to its songs, but, being such a delirious self-portrait, it could just as aptly be used to apply to Lilja himself. igloomag

Delirium Portraits is Tobias Lilja‘s latest musical opus for n5MD and not only does this skilled Scandinavian filter through a mesh of multi-textured vocal abstracts, he closely ties them to minimal dub-techno strains, veiled synthetic washes, upbeat microcosms of noise and a plethora of distilled basslines. His sonic sculptures, often breaking apart as they collapse into thick forests, are packed to the brim with kaleidoscopic color. This saturation of sound, carefully woven around frayed story-lines, is produced with an ear for clarity, consistency an internal-struggle touching the heart, mind and soul. It is with the continual exploration of Delirium Portraits‘ chiseled cuts that one begins to uncover the layers of subliminal textures floating to the surface. If Time Is On My Side represented waves of blistering darkness, Delirium Portraits, in contrast, is its long-lost relative. Filled with a glistening, almost contagious pulse, each fragment of lyrically interwoven rhythms bounces back and forth between the eardrums as it lures you into its hazy abyss. chain d.l.k.

Don't be put off by the slightly creepy portrait of Tobias Lilja on the cover by Anna Moberg (of the band Fredrik, I presume); actually I think it's kinda cool. Be assured that Lilja doesn't quite resemble the undead in real life photos I've seen of him. Actually Swedish electronica composer/audio engineer Tobias Lilja might be a name some Chain D. L. K. readers are already familiar with. If you recall his 2007 'Time Is On My Side' album (no, not a Rolling Stones tribute) it was a somnambulistic ambient-like foray into the dreamy subconscious ala David Sylvian or Mick Harris & Martyn Bates Murder Ballads collaboration. Tobias is vocally less emotive than the former and musically less minimal than the latter, but you get the idea. What percussive elements there were on 'Time Is On My Side' were sparse, sludgy and lumbering.

'Delirium Portraits' is a quite different affair; wide-awake and very lucid with percolating beats and grooves. Although Lilja's vocals are still plaintive here, they are not nearly as drawn out and forlorn. The music, while entirely electronic, is so well integrated that it has an organic feel to it. In a way the mood is similar to The Blue Nile (circa their 'Hats' album) with at times a dash of laid-back Yello. 'Delirium Portraits' seems to be Tobias's bridge to synthpop, although I really wouldn't call in synthpop any more than I'd Pink Floyd hard rock. Perhaps progressive electronica would be a better suited term. Quite upbeat in comparison to 'Time Is On My Side' yet dreamy. Tobias is more vocally adventurous here as well warbling multitracked vocals with harmonies. The songs are story-oriented and though the vocals are melodic, the melodies are far afield from any conventional pop music, synth or otherwise. There is a meandering quality in that respect in comparison to the actual song structure which stays true to form for the most part. It takes a special knack to carry off this kind of pop-experimentalism (Laurie Anderson come to mind) without seeming pretentious or precious and Tobias Lilja makes it work on 'Delirium Portraits'. Undoubtedly his background in audio engineering has paid off immensely as well with all the nice little incidental sonic touches that permeate the album.

While a good number of the tracks are beat-propelled, they aren't really dancefloor material. Still, it makes for engaging, moody listening. The only track I didn't care for was the last ' 'Morocco,' which is somewhat of an ode to a dear departed friend of Tobias. I'm sure it was a personal thing he felt compelled to do, and ended 'Delirium Portraits' on a melancholy note, but as a whole this is still a wonderful album. geiger.dk

Lilja bygger fint bro mellem IDM og mere traditionel vokalbaseret electronica, pop og dance fra den skyggefulde ende af club’en. Det fine ved albummet er imidlertid, at han ikke er bange for at gå til kanterne i de genrer, han leger med. Det giver albummet en utroligt stærk og vedvarende karakter.

I det hele taget er der noget umiskendeligt svensk over albummet, som først og fremmest kommer til udtryk i den fine balance mellem de mol’ede toner og den opløftende puls samt det fint vævede kulørte elektrotæppe, som udgør et sundt leje for Tobias Liljas melankolske og underspillede vokal.

Allerede i første skæring ”Spineless” kridter han sin spillebane op. Sangen er på overfladen et solidt popnummer, som kun vores broderfolk kan levere dem. Men en tredjedel inde i nummeret begynder instrumenteringen og beatfornemmelsen at folde sig ud. Shuffle bliver til straight – pulsen er umærkeligt blevet en helt anden. Og det elektroniske landskab får besøg af akustiske klange, som konstant manipuleres diskret. Ja, pludselig er den underspillede vokal det eneste faste holdepunkt i sangen. Meget, meget elegant!

I den (indledningsvist) pianobårne ”Love Song” demonstrerer Lilja sin tæft for akkordkonstruktioner, der ville have mødt mangen et anerkendende nik på cabaretscenerne i 20’ernes Schöneberg. Og i ”Our Noise” er der fuldt afløb for alt med hele maskinparken som våben. Industrielle beats tirrer de snerrende synths.

Næstsidste skæring ”These Bells” er en opbyggelig sag på knap 10 minutter. Lilja har al tid i verden og disponerer den fint mellem en rolig, meditativ indledning og en tung og beatbaseret afrunding. Albummet lukkes ned med den smukke, enkle sang ”Morocco”, hvor vokalharmonier og en simpel 8-dels puls udgør fundamentet for leaden frem til sangens overraskende finale.

Der er ikke meget negativt at sige om Delirium Portraits, så hvorfor dog anstrenge sig for at bukke sig ned efter malurten i stedet for blot at nyde Liljas perlende trylledrik i fulde drag? the skeleton crew quarterly

Having closed out 2010 with a compilation celebrating their tenth anniversary as a pioneering post-rock/home-listening electronica label, n5MD appeared ready to jump into 2011 with their mission statement renewed. That compilation’s focus – having new signees remix old blood – plus tagging newcomer Winterlight as a member of n5MD’s “new class”, meaning artists who were directly influenced by said label’s roster, illustrated more interest in recycling established trademarks than branching outwards and, by all accounts, 2011 looked to follow the same muse n5MD has been lusting after all along.

Then, in one unassuming release, all that fans have come to expect from the Oakland, California-based imprint turns sideways with Tobias Lilja’s Delirium Portraits. (Truth be told, I missed Lilja’s 2007 record Time Is On My Side so perhaps the groundbreaking nature of this follow-up stems from that ignorance.) Call him what you will – a less brooding Matthew Dear springs to mind – but Lilja’s devious mix of house and sprawling songwriting has put n5MD back on the progressive map. Nevermind the sheer size of Delirium Portraits – after all, it’s rare to find an n5MD release clocking well below the hour-mark – but it’s hard not to marvel at how Lilja fills that space with slow-moving verses and tight rhythms that somehow never eclipse each another. ‘Spineless’ and ‘North’ open the disc on a spritely course, all rich house beats and sorrowful vocals, but Lilja’s sinister edge increasingly punctures the brisk drive of these tempos. The piano-based ‘Love Song’ takes us crawling through Lilja’s dark side, introducing a sneaky beat in its final minute, and by the time ‘No Death Star’ breaks into its elastic-snapping synth chorus, his desperation has become Delirium Portraits’ prime motivator. Still, the likes of ‘Birthday Cake’ and ‘These Bells’ peer out from these bleak shadows with enough muscle on its beats to entice the darkness in us all.

Granted, you need to be in a particular frame of mind to find all of Delirium Portraits’ long shadows engaging. That situational dilemma marks a clear distinction between this record and the enveloping, reflective nature of your average n5MD release. But its risks, for both artist and label, translate as an artistic success in this case, launching into sonic and lyrical directions that in the world of home-listening electronica are rarely so unique.

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