Alright, I’m super late with this review—Wheels Within Wheels came out the day I moved house, which has not been the most conducive period for writing. But I couldn’t let this one get past without covering it. I adore Meer. There’s something very warming about listening to them, for all that they lean melancholy rather than saccharine. Best described as symphonic/progressive pop and/or rock, their music is lushly textured, drenched in strings, and emotive, often reaching for a soaring crescendo. Meer’s previous album Playing House narrowly missed the top spot in my 2021 list. In hindsight, it should probably have taken it.
The good news is they haven’t broken anything that made Playing House great. I mentioned in my TYMHM piece that Meer has a sound: a sparse melody on piano or guitar, some strings join, a fragile vocal line, and a build of all of those up to a great big soaring payoff. That’s still present and correct in Wheels Within Wheels, and it even opens with a brief string motif that’s a deliberate callback to the previous record before setting off in its own direction. The even better news is that the writing outshines Playing House. Nearly every song is a banger. The big, catchy vocal lines are really big. “Golden Circle,” “To What End” and more are super satisfying to sing along to. They play with the instrumentation and writing a bit more. There’s more of a dalliance with rock, with more distorted guitar, a spot of slide guitar here and there, and solos on “Chains of Changes” and “Today Tonight Tomorrow.” Closing track “This Is the End” goes actively post-rock, with heavier instrumentation, an unsettling key, and a more complex, extended song structure.
Wheels Within Wheels is a record where one has to criticize good songs to find criticisms at all. All I have to moan about is that there are two weaker pieces, “Behave” and “Take Me to the River.” The songs are good; I like the little whistled melody in “Behave,” for example, or the twiddly guitar on “Take Me to the River.” But they’re a little bit rote—the reference implementations of that Meer sound without anything notable to distinguish them. In the company of the rest of the record, they come across as a bit of filler. Their position in the running order, songs two and three, respectively, makes for an awkward start, tripping up after the great opener “Chains of Changes.” From that point onwards, however, every song is a hit. It’s redundant to try and list them all, but I do need to mention “Mother” in particular, a gorgeous prayer to a deity of broken things.
Meer is an ensemble, not just a band, and the (very many) musicians here are great. They succeed by combining all the moving parts with a sense of orchestration that would make most symphonic metal bands blush. They’re confident across the whole range of styles they touch, from sparse to bombastic. Still, Wheels Within Wheels is never too busy, allowing listeners to pick out the details. There’s a bass bit I love on “Something in the Water,” some pretty viola on “Take Me to the River,” or the piano on “Today Tonight Tomorrow.” Yes, I’m writing for a metal website, but I really enjoy some songs being more rock and guitar-forward (“Golden Circle,” among others). I’m inclined towards having opinions on vocalists and often feel slightly bad about not having space to say as much about, say, Åsa Ree on violin. But Meer’s two vocalists and lyricists, brother/sister duo Knut and Johanne Nesdal1 are brilliant. They carry the emotional heart of the music, trading lead vocal roles and duets, from the tender and fragile to the big, belted choruses. The production balances each detail without a problem, though I’d like a little more dynamic range to emphasize the biggest bits.
Wheels Within Wheels loses out to Playing House only in the sense that I knew what to expect—there’s no replicating that “wow” moment of hearing a fantastic band for the first time. But beyond that, it’s a notable improvement on Playing House, and that’s a hell of an achievement. Going a bit more rock and a touch more experimental is good for them. I’ve struggled to choose highlights to refer to because of an endless stream of “No, this one is my favorite track!” every time I listen. If you have any interest in progressive music, modern classical, or stuff that’s just Excellent, you should listen to this.
Rating: Excellent
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Karisma Records
Websites: meer.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/MEERmusikk
Releases Worldwide: August 23rd, 2024
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