Listen: Living - "Risen"

photo by Simen Peder Aksnes Aarli

After being introduced to Living, the Norwegian pop trio helmed by producer Lucas de Almeida, earlier this year I've been eagerly awaiting their promised new single. "Cerulean" was a bath of warm dream pop that recalled both fellow Norwegians Young Dreams and balmy chamber pop of Los Angeles' Princeton in equal measure. I was hooked. And now after much waiting, the trio are offering up another new track as well as news of an EP planned for October. So the wait begins anew.

The first thing you notice about Living's new single "Risen", aside from its tabla samples, is it takes the sense of patient ease of Living's previous output and really doubles down on it. Aside from occasionally pairing things down to just the tabla, "Risen" luxuriates in its own vibrant, layered melodies. For the majority of its nearly six minute run time there's a sprawling sense of ad infinitum; waves crashing along the shore without need for conclusion. Its build toward its climax is subtle as Lucas de Almeida does a few laps around the pool before kicking things up a notch: his swelling vocals ultimately ushering in tabla-less coda. "Risen" is Living at their most subdued; almost balladic as they trade its infectious pop hooks for experimentalism and emotion. While "Florahedron" and "Cerulean" featured a sort of call-and-response with the self as well as significant instrumental breaks, "Risen" relies largely on its vocals to set its course.



Living's fourth single "Risen" is out now on Brilliance Records.