Baula are the Swedish/Icelandic duo of Karolina Thunberg and Ísak Ásgeirsson. Their debut EP Drought came out in 2019, a four-song indie-rocker that announced the pair’s talent, though it would be five years until we heard from them again with their first full-length album Heavy Heart, No Tears.
Right from the first chord of the opening track “Heavy Heart, No Tears”, it’s clear Baula’s sound has evolved, the surf-like guitar and thick sonic density conveying a melancholic embrace over which the vocals languidly flow. The group describe the album as offering “no redemptive turning point, no insights or solutions. It simply reflects the misery of depression, from initial doubts about one’s self and life, to the final blow.” I recently watched an interview in which someone described their clinical depression as not a complete and utter sense of despair as many of us may expect it to be, but instead a total inability to find joy in anything, resulting in an ever-building feeling of hopelessness. It’s this description that feels like it fits how Baula describe Heavy Heart, No Tears. On the surface these songs are not “depressing”, and at times the music moves in more energetic directions, such as on “Heaven Knows”. But there’s still a forlorn undercurrent to the vocals even while the rhythm pulses densely, giving the songs a David Lynch-ian quality. Even the heartbeat-like percussion of “Mercury In Retrograde” can’t break free, instead creating the sensation of unrelenting anxiety. But in the end it Heavy Heart, No Tears doesn’t feel at all like a downer, but instead like a blanket of understanding you can wrap around yourself when you need it, a reassuring, cathartic embrace.
Heavy Heart, No Tears is available on the various streaming services (as is the 2019 EP Drought, which I also recommend you check out) and you can order a copy on vinyl at the Baula Bandcamp page HERE.