By stripping back their instrumentation, Norway’s art-rock sensations Leprous have found a different beast lurking below. Heavier and catchier than ever, they hope it can help them reach new frontiers. Prog catches up with vocalist Einar Solberg and guitarist Tor Oddmund Suhrke to uncover the story behind their new album, Melodies Of Atonement.
Einar Solberg, Leprous’ vocalist and chief composer, says the band’s ninth LP, Melodies Of Atonement, is lots of things – heavy, stripped-back and, curiously, takes gangster rap as a major influence. The one thing it isn’t, says Solberg, is prog.
And yet by its very nature, it is progressive. It’s another superlative example of how Leprous are able to redefine prog’s most recognised hallmarks for the contemporary landscape. Instantly recognisable as Leprous – Solberg admits they’d “need to make an extreme effort” to write something that wasn’t – the approach to its composition is different.
“I think it’ll be quite unifying,” he says what the Norwegians hope will please fans of their earlier, more metallic material, while luring fresh listeners from outside of prog’s borders.
It could just be that the band are conscious of what defining this record as ‘prog’ could do to their wider marketing. Solberg has already talked up plans to “focus on bigger, more exclusive shows with bigger production.” So perhaps they’re trying to be a little more Face Value and a little less Selling England By The Pound.
“I grew up on cassettes in the 80s – the Pet Shop Boys, A-ha, Kate Bush,” Solberg says. “They were pop but they had something else, so why not connect with that stuff? Prog doesn’t have to be all about 70s sounds.”
It seems like an attempt to unshackle from the cliché of 20-minute keyboard solos by a guy in a cape. Leprous have always dressed their prog in modern clothes; and, like Rush, Genesis and Pink Floyd before them, found success by marrying complexity with accessibility. Perhaps Solberg’s focus should be less about shunning prog and more about redefining public perception – because the band have proved their music can be both progressive and poppy. Melodies is even more so than ever before.
Interestingly, guitarist Tor Oddmund Suhrke felt a backlash from when the band first started changing direction. “When we released [the single] From The Flame in 2017, some fans complained there was too much pop, that it was ‘boring’ and that they were missing the odd time signatures,” he says. “The funny thing is that the verse is in 13/8!”
There’s another thing to consider: when crafting 2021’s Aphelion, Leprous wrote Nighttime Disguise over a series of lockdown livestreams with the help of their fans. That experience, Suhrke says, “showed us that we have a lot of dedicated fans, and that a lot of them are also musicians. I told Einar that if we give them the option of combining different elements, like time signatures, then that’s what they’ll choose.
“I was right. We ended up using three different time signatures, three different keys, both six- and eight-string guitars and acoustics. It has hectic riffs, epic brass, growling and high-pitched vocals. I guess our fans agree with Yngwie Malmsteen – more is more!”
Those who adore Nighttime Disguise will find plenty to love on Melodies. With Solberg’s blossoming solo work set to explore the orchestrations that have characterised Leprous’ last three records (he says he’s booked “one of the main symphonic orchestras in Norway”) Leprous are going the other way.
By removing elements, you make other elements more prominent… Music doesn’t get bigger by adding stuff; that’s a misconception
Einar Solberg
“We wanted to see what we can do with the instruments we have in the band,” he says. “We’ve also tried to use each member to the best. You’ll see a lot of classic Leprous distribution between the guitar parts, with Tor playing all the really deep eight-string parts that he’s been doing for years and years, and Robin Ognedal playing the funky, higher-pitch parts. We tried to work more like a football team; you don’t have everyone playing in the same positions at the same time.”
The vocalist believes they’ve maximise the breadth of their music – and he’s right. Not only have they found inspiration in limitation, but it’s also shaped a record unlike any of their previous LPs. “I think by removing elements, you can make other elements more prominent and shine more,” he says. “Music doesn’t get bigger by adding stuff; that’s a misconception. Symphonic orchestras rarely have everyone playing at the same time. By removing some elements you can make the music so much more impactful when everyone does come together.”
The record packs some of the band’s gnarliest ever moments. Fewer layers mean a greater focus on the guitars, which cut through the mix with sharper blades. But at times, the two guitarists to play nothing at all. “We love to play with the dynamics,” Solberg says. “It was amazing to do it with only the five of us.”
Even when isolated like this, the band’s blueprint remains multidimensional, allowing for new influences and ideas to seep in. “The initial idea was to have lots of 90s hip-hop grooves with Leprous on top. Imagine B-Real from Cypress Hill rapping over the top of the intro of Like A Sunken Ship, which I think has the clearest influences of those artists. That was the vibe we were going for.
You put yourself be out there for people to love or hate you. That is the key to originality
Einar Solberg
“Faceless is another hip hop-inspired song. We’ve found we can do whatever we want, musically: once we’re all playing on it, no matter how much we change our sound, it will always sound like Leprous.”
Solberg rapping himself, however, would have been a bridge too far. “I’m not good at it – I know my limitations! To have a Norwegian with ‘Norwinglish’ trying to be a gangster with zero swag wouldn’t work! But I was so into that growing up, so we wanted to be transparent with our influences, like Kendrick Lamar, Cypress Hill and House Of Pain.”
He offers another, and possibly most important, reason to avoid the prog label: by accepting the connection you’d constrict what Melodies really is: a living, breathing representation of everything the band have come to be in over the past 23 years – and what it could yet become.
“When you stop trying and stop worrying about what you want to be, you put yourself be out there in the open for people to love or hate you,” he says. “That is the key to originality. The human mind is universal; people always find something to recognise in their own life in your lyrics and music, even if it’s different from how it was intended.”
