Civilistjävel!

(This article’s English version was produced with AI-assisted translation)

Sweden has always been a key driving force behind Tomas Bodén’s urge to transfigure his homeland’s nostalgia into sound. With the project Civilistjävel!, launched in the late 2010s, he has created dreamlike atmospheres with a lo-fi whisper, resting on delicate ambient rustlings. His series of releases has evoked minimal synth reminiscences (as in the 2018 debut album "1") and a darkwave that, intertwining with dub-techno tremors, absorbed its most languid and crystalline inflections. From the very beginning, Bodén’s craft has been subtle and twilight-like, sculpted through measured contrasts and subdued sound design, unfolding between hypnotic immersions ("XV"), dark atmospheres, and drum machines that hint at fragile post-tribalism ("XVI").

Stripped of (almost) all lo-fi intent in favor of a more crystalline reproduction, with "Följd" the sound has also become less dense, as if part of its magic lay precisely in that lo-fi visionariness that granted it an elusive aura. In a way, it feels as if the outer shell had been an integral part of the work, and its removal has shaped the seven movements into an evanescent, deliberately disoriented, and dim soundscape—as if a faint glow on the verge of fading were conducting an orchestra of faded specters. The result is a solitary communion between a few instruments, a subtle dialogue between electronic sounds and organic elements like organs and guitars, all engaged in chiseling a gentle and nostalgic sonic fabric ("XVIII"), but also one that is misty and diluted ("XVII").

The tracks unfold like sorrowful narratives with a bucolic breath, as if the idea of damp soil had been translated into an instrumental palette that, however, does not always maintain the same expressive intensity. While moments of lyricism and poetic grace emerge, in some passages, the sequencing choices may not feel entirely essential. Yet, as a whole, the work succeeds. One thing is certain: Civilistjävel!’s journey will continue to lead us toward new and fascinating sonic territories.

07/03/2025