Serena Maneesh - No 2: Abyss in B Minor

S-M 2: Abyss in B Minor is the second album following the release of their self-titled LP in 2006 which received much praise upon it's release, establishing the Norwegian band as an act that could merge the lilting, ethereal melodies with crushingly loud, shimmering distortion. This new album is also their first release for 4AD, with them having recently been signed up to the label. They started recording for the new album in 2008 when they went back underground to record in a cave on the outskirts of Oslo; "Studio environments often get on my nerves," band leader Emile Nikolaisen explains, "and I love the underworld, you can silently head down there and do as you please, leave the world behind. So we found this huge cave with stone walls, it looked like a refugee hideout from World War II, with a huge, undiscovered treasure of sound." Once recorded, they then worked on it further with Nick Terry (who has worked with Klaxons and Primal Scream), and Can associate René Tinner, who set about mixing the results - spending an incredible eight days oneach song. It was even mastered at Air Studios by Ray Staff, who did the same for, among many others, Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti, but this is no distended double-album, the end result is a concise eight tracks spread over just 38 minutes and 45 seconds.