I Wear* Experiment are possibly best known outside their native Estonia for having auditioned to represent their country in the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest. Their entry for this year’s Eesti Laul, Estonia’s national selection, was the title track of their album, ‘Patience’.
The entire album is typified by synths and electronic music. The lilting vocals of Johanna Eenma on the lead song, ‘Patience’, as in the rest of the album, are the primary focus, with the drums and guitars taking a back seat.
Following on with ‘From Nothingness’, a stark song with beautiful harmonies, it opens with a pleasant humming and a sort of tricksy rhythm in the background. Through headphones it is superb – although it is almost as wonderful without.
Track Three, ‘Deep Freeze’, is characterised by nice popping beats, and the ever present electro-rhythms. I Wear* Experiment describe themselves as a “Nordic electro pop/post-rock band”, and The Baltic Sub said of them, “A fascinating electronic sound that often eschews vocals and goes for a cinematic instrumental approach”. This is clear in this song, where even the vocals have been synthesised.
‘Stress My Friend’, is a sad, yet pleasingly sweet song, the pounding drums the perfect complement to the harmonies. This song is revisited in track 7, ‘Hyperstress’, which has been remixed and expanded, with a massive amount of dubstep beats added. It’s a nice great treatment for an already lovely song.
Favourite track on the album is possibly ‘No Way Back’, which reprises the synthesised vocals of ‘Deep Freeze’. The repeated lyrics, over and over, of “there is a way back but it’s the other way around” makes this a very exciting and listenable dance track.
Final song, ‘I’m Loving It’, is a much slower track, and for the first time we have a male vocal in addition to Johanna. The overall impression of the song we’re left with – and indeed, our feeling about the whole album – is that they’ve been inspired by Bowie’s Berlin albums, or even more so, by experimental artists like Kraftwerk. In summary, ‘Patience’ is a very beautiful album, and definitely worth at least a couple of listens.
You can find I Wear* Experiment online on Twitter, Facebook, and their official website. ‘Patience’ is available to download from iTunes and stream on Spotify.
