Absynthe Minded

The debut UK single release by Belgian rock band Absynthe Minded is a little like their home country’s gourmet chocolate export: dark, rich lyrics dusted with a frosting of powdered pop; a smooth rich vocal texture, a centre of meltingly smooth guitar with the intense flavour of catchy pop and funky soul.

‘Envoi’ - taken from their 2009 self-titled album, which picked up Best album at the Belgium Music Industry Awards - is based on a poem by the late Belgian poet Hugo Claus, who ended his life controversially in 2008 by euthanasia following the onset of Alzheimer’s. So, with that in mind and lyrics along the lines of ‘Go now on your high feet/This is where the graves laugh/When they see their guests/Enough!/One corpse on top of the other’, you may not actually be expecting this to be a jolly type of tune - and you would be wrong. ‘Envoi’ rolls along at a breezy pace from its guitar riff (with a hint of Dylan’s ‘Hurricane’) and drum opening, to the laid-back vocals of Bert Ostyn that reflect the band’s jazz-pop influences.

A number 1 single in Belgium and hot in the French charts, ‘Envoi’, like any fine gourmet chocolate, is deliciously more-ish and whets the taste buds for a further mouthful. And there is quite a bit more on offer from Absynthe Minded, with four albums now under their belt. The one question is whether their flavour will appeal to the British palate? Try them and see.