After touring 2010’s Ship of Light album, culminating in their last performance at Flow Festival in Helsinki, August 2011, one chapter closed and another began. Prompted in part by long standing singer Reeta Vestman taking the opportunity to study musical theatre in London, Husky Rescue main man, multi instrumentalist and producer Marko Nyberg decided to strip everything down and start afresh, changing pretty much everything, to head into a more intimate, bright and natural direction. Deciding on a new singer he met up with the intriguing and mysterious Swedish vocalist Johanna Kalén in Stockholm and impressed and enthused with her utterly beautiful voice and ‘neo-hippy’ outlook, he also drafted in his old English friend, and honourary Finn, Antony Bentley (son of a moose skull player, always trekking the vast landscapes of computer music) and realized that this new line-up was heading exactly where he wanted and could bring to life the new music that he was hearing in his head. Having written a bunch of new songs they decamped to Greenpoint, the Brooklyn studio of an enthusiastic vintage keyboard collector, to record them. Now finished they will be released this year.
Finland’s Husky Rescue took shape in the early 21st century, as Marko pulled together 20-odd musician pals to record. Since that initial gathering, the project has only picked up speed. Between 2004 and 2010, Husky Rescue has released three full-length albums and a remixes/rarities compilation, as well as a plethora of singles and EPs. Across these albums one sees the growth of Marko's skill, from a young artist honing his craft to a man who knows exactly where he is going.
Hard to place into any easy genre classification but unique and beautiful, Husky Rescue’s sound reconstitutes pieces of alt. country, depressive disco, and pop into an incomparably distinctive, cinematic universe, laced with lyrics of love delivered with a longing melancholy.
Husky Rescue’s debut album, ‘Country Falls’, hit stores in October of 2004. It remains their most barebones and thoroughly chill album, opening on an adorable ode to a sleepy kitten and culminating with the uplifting tale of a good man. The cinematic sceneries found on the debut were further expanded onto 2007’s ‘Ghost is Not Real’ which turned up the sonic experimentation and detailed production without sacrificing the catchy, pop aesthetic. Heavily featuring Jari Salo, the quirky visionary behind Pepe Deluxé and a long-time friend of Marko's, Ship of Light was released in January of 2010. All of these albums were consistently met by positive reviews in Pitchfork, Tiny Mix Tapes, Allmusic, Q, Uncut, NME, The Times, The Guardian, Daily Telegraph (Album of the Week), Mojo, Artrocker, Clash, Sunday Times (CD of the Week) and musicOMH, amongst others.
With Marko at the helm, having commanded a collaborative supporting cast that made up a who's who of the Helsinki music scene, Husky Rescue's instrumentals have become increasingly orchestrated, yet remain perfectly executed. Nothing is ever overplayed or out of place, the music settling in great relief into the vocals. From the beginning, digital illustrator Kustaa Saksi has crafted the visual side of the project, perfectly capturing the mood with his detailed yet minimalist style, reminiscent of the ukiyo-e paintings and masking-based comic style of Japan.
Husky Rescue have performed on the stages of Lollapalooza, Glastonbury, Austin City Limits. They've toured extensively in the UK and Europe, and played select shows in North America.
www.husky-rescue.com
www.facebook.com/huskyrescueofficial
www.myspace.com/huskyrescue
Vocals: Johanna Kalén
Guitar: Antony Bentley
Keys: Marko Nyberg
Sweet Little Kitten
Husky Rescue Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The sunbeams climb up on the wall
Climbing until they find the rooftop don't stop until the icepicks
Melt in to the floor
Go slowly don't wake me don't shake me up
Easy don't wake up don't shake me up
Small girls with sun warm hands cuddle bring him milk
then run after make castles in the snow
Jokers juggle in the air rainbow colored fountains of sugar waters flow
Go slowly don't wake me don't shake me up
Easy don't wake up don't shake me up
The lyrics to Husky Rescue's song Sweet Little Kitten depict a peaceful scene of a small kitten sleeping in the sun on a porch. The sunbeams are described as climbing up the wall until they reach the rooftop, and they don't stop until the icepicks melt into the floor. This suggests that time is passing slowly and peacefully, without any interruptions or disturbances. The lyrics also describe small girls with warm hands cuddling the kitten and bringing it milk, while also playing and building castles in the snow. Jokers juggle in the air and rainbow-colored fountains of sugar water flow, adding to the dreamlike and whimsical atmosphere of the scene.
Line by Line Meaning
Sweet little kitten on the porch sleeps in the sun
A small and innocent cat relaxes on the deck, enjoying the warmth of the sun.
The sunbeams climb up on the wall
The sunlight steadily ascends the wall near the cat.
Climbing until they find the rooftop don't stop until the icepicks
The beams ascend further and eventually reach the roof, continuing until even the ice on the roof melts away.
Melt in to the floor
The ice thaws and seeps into the ground below.
Go slowly don't wake me don't shake me up
Don't disturb my peaceful state or upset my calmness in any way.
Easy don't wake up don't shake me up
Take it easy and avoid waking me from my slumber.
Small girls with sun warm hands cuddle bring him milk
Young children with warm hands show affection to the cat and give it milk.
then run after make castles in the snow
The girls then run about and build snow forts after visiting the cat.
Jokers juggle in the air rainbow colored fountains of sugar waters flow
Foolish individuals toss around a stunning display of colorful candy syrup in the air.
Contributed by Nathaniel T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.