DisAgreement Online

After their second album Playing House, a critical success story that somehow came out of nowhere, Norwegian eight-piece band Meer had been playing tons of concerts, yet somehow, they must have found enough time to write new material, as they are now back with the follow-up Wheels Within Wheels, which once again improves their sound to new heights.

Few took notice of Meer when they released their nice but maybe a little timid self-titled debut album in 2016. The next album was far more progressive, but may have suffered from sometimes uneven songwriting. Wheels Within Wheels takes their symphonic progressive pop sound to new heights. The band is still fronted by brothers and sister Knut and Johanne Kippersund Nesdal. They still switch lead vocals between songs, but have become more adept at delivering backing vocals on their sibling’s tracks. Both sound more confident, and especially Johanne is at times screaming her lungs out with massive soulful eruptions.

The first half of the album is perfect. The opener and second single Chain Of Changes, led by Johanne, begins quietly enough but soon builds up momentum. The rhythm section is packing more punch this time around, the guitar also gets more space, with the more orchestral instruments like organs, violin and viola still delivering the dramatic backdrop which makes Meer’s music so unique. The following Behave displays Knut’s more self-confident vocal delivery. The parts where the two siblings sing together work wonderfully, probably because they have been doing this since the age of four under the Christmas tree.

Take Me To The River and Come To Light are two quieter songs, although both with enough louder parts to make them very suspenseful. Especially the latter ends with a roaring gospel-like parts that never fails to give me goosebumps. Another highlight it To What End where Johanne is wailing her way forcefully through the chorus. The second half of the album is maybe not as strong, although still better than 99% of what I get to listen to on a daily basis, but the concluding nine-minute-long epic This Is The End is making up for that. This song has more of a progressive rock feeling, and its chorus once again proves that Johanne is really feeling at ease when she can scream like a banshee.

The predecessor stood out with some of the best prog pop songs of all time, but Wheels Within Wheels is still a step forward, despite its rather bland looking cover artwork. The sound feels more homogeneous, the band is more confident, which is probably due to their extensive touring. What makes it all so special is that Meer don’t sound like any other band. They don’t play typical progressive rock, and thankfully also don’t adhere to the boring-as-hell new art rock movement. Meer are an orchestra all by themselves, and use their array of instruments to make a sophisticated yet catchy sound that has proven successful in the past, and will definitely now disappoint this time.