Taneli Jarva has one hell of a track record stretching over the past 30-something years, with a resume boasting stints in pedigree acts such as THE BLACK LEAGUE, SENTENCED, POISON WHISKY, and whatnot. Having been blessed with a baritone voice that resonates with the thick air of Nick Cave and Mark Lanegan, I guess it was just a matter of time before he would one day end up in the realm of dark alt-country. Echoing the Southern Gothic aesthetic of vintage NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS with a pinch of contemporary Nordic Noir, T. JARVA & THE DARK PLACE, founded in 2018 by Jarva and guitarist Sami Hassinen, has finally released their debut album “Post Festum” on February 2nd, 2024 – independently, it appears. By default, acoustic country has never been my go-to genre, exactly, but when it’s either of the outlaw variety à la Hank Williams III or profoundly dark like this endeavor here, I’m all in.
The album unfolds like a grainy, black-and-white road movie, taking us down a dark desert highway. Thus, the journey begins with a plea to “Lift me up before I go” in the opening track, “Golden Girl.” Although the lyrics are not very explicit about whether alcohol is involved or not, you can almost smell the whiskey from the night before. The double bass sounds particularly nice, courtesy of Jukka Puurula of DON HUONOT. It does not only provide a robust low end to the dialogue of piano and acoustic guitar, but it elevates the song – not to mention the whole album – to a darkly shaded league of its own. Of course, it is hard to avoid the odd Nick Cave flashback here and there, say, from “The Lyre of Orpheus,” but mostly they stem from Jarva‘s voice, which sure does carry the gravitas of all those years.
With music like this, it kind of comes with the package that the lyrics are infested with somewhat religious terminology, what with all the references to judgment day, mercy, Jesus, and prayers. Then again, I would strongly advise against playing this album to any hardcore Christian – not that the metal fraternity would be likely to mingle with that particular crowd anyway, but some of the lyrics might not go down very well with that demographic – the ironic account of “Bride of Jesus,” in particular. That is certainly a trait that Jarva shares with Mr. Cave. It is also a trait that suits this genre of music extremely well, whatever your take on religious matters might be. It layers the songs with a specific aura of timelessness. I doubt that acoustic gloom of this type would work very well with lyrics about contemporary societal issues, for instance. The overall vibe is closer to the darkness of, say, the Salem Witch Trials rather than the urban dystopia of 2024.
The second track, “Venus is High,” comes off almost as a tongue-in-cheek homage to Willie Nelson – or his affinity to weed, to be more precise. I must admit that I have never listened to Nelson‘s music, so I cannot say whether the music nods in that particular direction or not, but the lyrics certainly do. I reckon I have not come across an acoustic homage to weed by a Finnish music act since the implicitly weed-friendly 1989 album, “Softwood Music Under Slow Pillars,” by SIELUN VELJET. Here, the mood is remarkably darker, though. The sitar-like sounds in the song’s intro sound so deliciously reminiscent of THE VELVET UNDERGROUND‘s vintage psychedelia classic “Venus in Furs” that I reckon it is not an accident but a sly suggestion that the story of Venus goes on.
“Calamity” rolls out such Gothic gloom that it immediately stands out from the rest. The pinched harmonics on the guitar, by Mr. Hassinen, come off almost as the tollings of an iron bell – the death knell, I reckon, given the overall mood of the outing. Now, this is a song Nick Cave might wish he’d done in the 1990s. The vibe is almost like a cross between “Red Right Hand” and ULVER‘s haunting film noir endeavors before these Norwegians went all synth-pop. A future classic? It bloody well ought to be! The song was one of the three singles released ahead of the album, so I guess the maestro himself must have noticed its potential.
That said, there aren’t idle moments on the album; each song is a banger in its own right – that is… if you’re drawn to extremely dark melancholy. If I were to single out a few songs, however, the gloomy Mark Lanegan vibes of “Can’t Let Go” sound particularly delicious. Then, the video single, “Mercy Curse” is worth mentioning if only for Pekko Käppi‘s haunting jouhikko licks! The music video is something else completely, as well – AI-rendered hallucinations at the psych ward! Clichéd as it may sound at face value, the distorted horror-movie imagery fits the song’s mood especially well.
Last, the rough journey down the dark corridors of the human psyche is brought to a close with the slightly Middle-Eastern-vibed “January’s Child.” Perhaps, because of the overall dark atmosphere and grim themes, I would not put this album on unless I was going to pay attention to it properly. Yeah, “Post Festum” is not very likely to work as background music to, say, prep for a physics exam or anything like that, but I reckon it will surely work its dark magic when you’re in the right frame of mind for some acoustic Southern Gothic. It’s a brilliant album, no two ways about it!
Written by Jani Lehtinen
Tracklist
- Golden Girl
- Venus Is High
- Calamity
- Bride of Jesus
- Can’t Let Go
- Mercy Curse
- A Drunkard’s Prayer
- The Crossroads’ Song
- January’s Child
Lineup
Taneli Jarva – vocals, steel-string guitars, baritone guitars
Sami Hassinen – classical guitars, mandolin, baritone guitars, backing vocals
Mikko Kaakkuriniemi – drums, percussion
Jukka Puurula – double bass
Janne Immonen – keyboards, backing vocals
Guests:
Kari Reini – percussion, effects
Riina Rinkinen – backing vocals
Hanna Wendelin – backing vocals
Pekko Käppi – jouhikko
Label
Independent
