Noir/Blanc is bob K’s third album, produced by LA-producer David Larring (Kevin Max, Støy, Tommy Tokyo). The cooperation with Larring began after their common tour with Kevin Max (dcTalk) in 2010, when they also released the album Fragile.
Larring, who moved from Los Angeles to Oslo, where the album was finished. Like its predecessor, Noir/Blanc is all about Scandinavian-rooted, dynamic postrock, intended to fill the arenas. Larring has retained the grandiose live-sound, where he lets its bombastic melancholy, shimmering guitars, and adorning Rhodes-melodies, have featured prominently among his own retro sounds from both stylophone, sizzling synth basses, and mandolin.
The album opens with the singles The Escape and Burden, who then hands over to the catchy, melodic ballad Angel. From there on to Mayday – the album’s heaviest track – where the band and Larring manage the trick to unite glockenspiel with growling, without crossing the border into hardcore… Rest is another song, that stands out, with its dark drum loop, that stubbornly grind through the whole soundwave of emotionally loaded energy. When the last, distorted beat from Rest resonates, the listener ends up in closing song Forever, that with its peaceful soundscape through a swirling, magical discharge leaves a taste of both blackness and hopeful light…
“Anything but gray!” Metal Integral, France
“Bob K should be one of the premier rock bands from Sweden, let´s hope this album will take them out in the world.” Roth’n’roll, Sweden
“Could make a decent breakthrough” Imhotep, Norway
“Magnificent and very captivating
… complex, imaginative and multifaceted musical world” Upsala Nya Tidning, Sweden
“A love relationship that grows and matures” Extended Mix, Sweden
“Clearly the best album from bob K so far” MusikJournalen, Radio Fyris, Sweden
“Moody/brooding indie” Mauce – The Metal Resource, Netherlands
“Creates epic emotional storms” Zero Magazine, Sweden
“Beautifully well-produced” IKON1931, Sweden
“Solid pop-product of the brother people” Vårt Land, Norway
