UTU drops brand new record

Hailing from Finland, UTU is a five-piece outfit crafting a fiercely original sound of ambient industrial chamber art pop music. Drawing inspiration from their varied musical backgrounds, the band’s name instils a sense of mystery and fluidity, taking its meaning from the Finnish word for the misty weather that hovers above the sea.

Since starting out from an origin so organic that even the band struggles to pinpoint its exact moment, they’ve been forging a sound that flows between turbulent storms and serene stillness, winning over listeners across Finland and beyond. Featuring the talents of lead singer and lyricist Petra Poutanen, Teemu Kiiskilä on guitars, drummer Aku-Pekka Kurjenniemi, cellist Katri Antikainen and Tony Sikström on doublebass, together they forge a highly original and thoroughly gripping sound unlike anything else.

Sharing their musical vision with the world for over a decade, they unveiled their sound in 2011 with their debut double single “Sailor / Calm Way to Go,” which they followed up with a trio of full-length records over the following five years. Taking a hiatus after their 2017 LP, Russian Poets, this year they’ve returned with a bunch of new material, releasing a string of well-received singles in the build up to their latest release, their brand new album titled Love Collection: By the Ashes That Used to Be the Everlasting Fire.

As nodded to in its name, this ten-track record is no ordinary exploration of love. Instead of conventional love songs, the album frames broader ideas of human connection, unraveling the need for love and the darker, more enigmatic facets it can embody. It’s a meditation on the things that resemble love, the ways we seek it and the illusions we often mistake for it.

Opened by “Reality Beats All Dreams,” brooding cello lines are met by the sound of a robotic vocal sample before the arrangement builds with the patter of percussion and hushed vocalisations to craft an experimental, minimalist intro piece. Next up, “The Wortst Is Yet to Come” follows with the soft chants of Petra’s quiet vocals as subtly moody instrumental textures wrap around her voice. As the arrangement swells into a wave of enveloping tones and steady percussive strikes, a dazzling atmosphere arrives before fading into a mesmeric verse of gently ratting drums and enthralling ebb and flow to craft a truly cinematic soundscape.

“It Must Have Been Love at First Hit” sets up a deep groove of shuffling rhythms, subdued vocal lines and zappy synth pips, creating a trippy avant-garde pop outing that builds with lively string dashes and rustling drum rolls. It’s the perfect snapshot of UTU’s extraordinary creative flair and their knack for creating a forward-thinking sound that’s at once innovative and engaging.

Other highlights on the album include songs like “Happy to Be Sad” with its warbling bass textures, bouncy vocal delivery and playful rock-tinged arrangement, resulting in a sound that’s catchy and mesmeric in equal measure. “The Woman of My Dreams” kicks off with the pound of a drum machine as intense spoken word vocal lines glide above to cast an immersive, deconstructed jam brimming with UTU’s originality and sound design panache. Closing the release with “Oh, Sorrow,” the band presents an elegant ballad style piece led by Petra’s graceful vocals backed by warm piano chords, as the track gradually drifts into a stretching atmosphere of reverb-drenched textures to offer a stunning finale to their incredible new album.

Listen to Love Collection: By the Ashes That Used to Be the Everlasting Fire below