When I looked up this band on Google the first entry was for "The Siberian Husky Welfare Association (UK) which works on three fronts to address the Welfare Crisis in British Siberian Huskies". I readily admit that I was neither aware of the deep crisis facing British Huskies or equally who the band Husky Rescue were. With "Ship of Light" that situation has been fully remedied.
Husky Rescue are a Finnish quintet. This is their third album since 2004 and they comprise Marco Nyberg, Reeta-Leena Korhola, Ville Riippa, Anssi Sopanen and Miika Colliander. They are further evidence that something is stirring around the arc stretching from the Baltic to the Barrents Sea with the rise of excellent "Scandinavian" bands like Roskopp, Fever Ray, Jaga Jazzist, Lonely Dear et al.
The band recently received an ecstatic review in the Sunday Times where it stated that "songwriter Marko Nyberg and the vocalist Reena-Leeta Korhola have explored the kind of wintry, dreamy, sparsely populated sonic landscapes we might expect from Finnish musicians". But have these explorations produced any thing of worth?
On the evidence of the lovely ambient pop music on Ship of Light this is the band on the verge of seriously breaking out from downtown Helsinki and capturing a much wider audience. Check out initially "Sound of love" which gently floats on a lovely vocal by Korhola into a yearning pop song, with the chorus hook being so strong it could land a shark (check it out live at the Willmington Arms on You tube). I immediately played on repeat and the album grows with every listen. "Fast Lane" is also excellent and much more uptempo with a sharp guitar punctuating the song at about 1.30 min into proceedings. The album highlight however is the single "We shall burn bright" which is a synth driven little epic that draws to a very strong climax as the sound builds throughout. Excellent.
Other songs are far denser and moody such as the stirring Wolf Trap Motel with Korhola (I think I am smitten!) providing a heartbreaking vocal backdrop to a lovely melody in a slow burning classic. I suppose if I have have one criticism the album does not have the sheer raw emotion of say Beach House recent "Teen Dream" and for a largely electronic album sometimes feels a little under-produced. That said they save one of the best until last with the brilliant and haunting "Beautiful my Monster" a truly stirring pop song. Husky Rescue are a captivating prospect and it would be foolishness on your part not to seek them out.