I first came across Agent Fresco back in late 2008, immediately taking a liking to their experimental fusion of metal, jazz, (math)rock and pop. Seven months later their excellent debut EP ‘Lightbulb Universe’, which earned them both a Kraumur Award and an Icelandic Music Award, knocked me down, lifted me up and set my expectations to high for their debut full length, ‘A Long Time Listening’.

So, does it live up to my high expectations? Oh, yes… Adding more nuances to their sonic palette over the 15 songs and two intermezzos, it’s still a superiorly performed polyrhythmic, complex and immensely powerful mind-bender of a cocktail, and while not easily digestible at first or second listen the quartet’s kind enough to show off their pop abilities throughout, offering catchy near-calms to help you catch your breath and bearing.

With a running time of more than an hour the album is more than a mouthful, and I personally think – not least because I know the ‘Lightbulb Universe’ EP – that it is a bit much that Agent Fresco have included four of the five songs from said EP on ‘A Long Time Listening’. Not that they stink or anything, in fact they’re still among the highlights here, but I’m just saying choices could’ve been made, darlings killed – either among the new or the old songs.

Anyway, that small objection aside the four songs (‘Eyes Of A Cloud Catcher’, ‘Silhouette Palette’, ‘Tiger Veil’, ‘Above These City Lights’) still come highly recommended along with beautiful, piano-driven opener ‘Anemoi’, ‘Of Keen Gaze’, which is one of the more straightforward pop-rock songs with a great guitar riff reminding me of Mew, awesome grunge-jazz-prog rocker ‘Translations’, grandiose power-ballad ‘Pianissimo’, and the brilliant title track sporting a choir with members of Dikta, For a Minor Reflection, Rökkuró, Mammút and more in the Efterklang-ish chorus, which perfectly encapsulates what these guys are all about (in the player).

As said I immediately took a liking to Agent Fresco back when ALL SCANDINAVIAN was young, and they have done nothing to disappoint me with first ‘Lightbulb Universe’ and now ‘A Long Time Listening’. A stunning band and a stunning album…

Genre: Rock/Post-rock
Who: Agent Fresco
Album: A Long Time Listening
Label: Records Records
Year: 2010
Country: Iceland
Language: English
DOWNLOAD VIA gogoyoko.com

Recommended tracks:
Anemoi – Of Keen Gaze – Translations – A Long Time Listening – Pianissimo