musicAddicted

It’s impossible to say what’s more important or essential about iamamiwhoami’s artistic appearance. Is it the music? Jonna Lee, Claes Björklund and their crew (whose members have stayed in hiding for more than a year and half) are musicians whose previous career was always about composing and singing or producing, respectively. Or are the bottom line of iamamiwhoami their videos? Those imaginative, film-like, sometimes shocking, another times soothing footage of a mandragora, man in white briefs, animals and nature as the missing component of our post-industrial lives? Or is it the special way of a communication? Talking to their fans just through months of silence, then a release of a new single with accompanying video, some cryptic message left on an unsearchable site and then silence again?

For the main aim and sense of this blog music is the underlying key to the greater understanding of iamamiwhoami’s presence. Not only does their sporadic way of releasing new songs with no studio album in coming break the rules of contemporary pop music, but it also maps their artistic evolution – something that belongs to the most obvious subjects of their persona. Evolution of ideas and musical emotions in contrast (and concert) to the evolution of a human. Of course, all of their motives are in highly symbolic way narrated through supernatural characters living on the border between fairytale, horror and a cold reality.

The same works for their music: synth-pop with so many ingredients that it’s not electro-pop anymore. Clump, their new single illustrates this eclecticism and evolution nicely. Here, iamamiwhoami go back to the more vigorous sound of their earlier singles O and T, but replace their straightforward catchiness with urge and dominance over the listener. Unlike most of their singles which are built of slowly-evolving introduction - often just instrumental - and opening passages (think of O, Y, ; John), Clump begins immediately. “I never dreamed I’d need someone like you” in the first line is a traditional usage of contrasts in their lyrics which foremost deal with then and now. But while the earlier songs were heavily saturated with a fear and doubts about love and life of a musician, Clump is more self-confident and resolute. She’s not uncertain about herself anymore what is aptly documented in another passage: “You never had a true friend like I.” Of course, that you are we, her listeners.

On the other side, the dissonance of heavy synthesizers and reverberated vocals somehow destruct this light approach and move the song into darker spheres – both in sonic and lyrical way. Clump is mostly about Lee as a musician and her fans as a group of her lovers. Because it’s not so easy and simple to produce quality, non-mainstream music frequently while freeing yourself from self-awareness of pop’s immediacy. Pop artists are in hard role of balancing symbolism with simplicity, but preserving catchiness effortlessness of melody and structure. This aspect also explains iamamiwhoami’s left-field nature and impossibility to reach bigger audience – they are too “complex” for mass. These themes of re-inventing yourself and dealing with the difficulties of creativity are intrinsic elements of the lyrics; in Clump it’s the very last verse: “Cannot wait until I see your smiling faces / And our love will be misunderstood.”

Choosing clump as the name seems more than fitting as the word means not only “a small, compact group of people” – people to whom their music may concern, but also “a small group of trees or plans growing closely together” – one of iamamiwhoami’s most frequent metaphor for fans. The ambiguity of Lee’s words is appealing too. Count the ways one could understand these words: “Cannot wait until I get my hands on you / we can do the things we said we would.” I believe that Clump is  a prelude to the upcoming concert in Goteborg. Still, the raw energy and dissonant subduing of iamamiwhoami is more than delicious with Clump being one of their most impenetrable singles.