- Man Tear is Axel Boman and fellow Studio Barnhus co-founder Petter Nordkvist, and "Outside Amore" is their debut single. On paper its remit—put simply, cosmic vocal disco—suggests a departure from the off-kilter, faintly druggy deep house Boman and Studio Barnhus are known for. But this isn't your common Scandi-disco. Sure, the chugging bassline is of the Moroder school, and the percussion—chunky, live-sounding—marks out an unfussy 4/4. But Boman and Nordkvist steer clear of disco's archetypal evocations of the cosmic, opting instead for something far more subdued. The result is a surprisingly pensive ten-minute epic that will ease its way gently into your affections. The only weakness, arguably, is vocalist J. Jonason, whose fey, off-the-cuff delivery doesn't quite leave its mark.
Fortunately, Jonason's contribution sounds far more compelling on the dub mix, stutteringly reworked with odd, distorted whimpers. In the best tradition of the form, Boman and Nodkvist keep their tweaks to the arrangement down to a minimum—a beefed up kick here, a layer of sheet-glass tambourine there—which focuses your attention on the grotty delay trails slathered haphazardly across the mix.
TracklistA Outside Amore
B Outside Amore (Dub)