Family secrets probably should never see the light of day. Once they are revealed everything, and everyone, changes. Kira Skov’s new album, What Ties Us Together, Will Keep Us Apart is such a story, the soundtrack to a Danish TV series, yet it also tells a personal tale of family secrets and trauma handed down from generation to generation, along with the inherent damage caused.
Exploring family secrets was something Skov had been toying with when she was approached about creating music for the series, Generations. What continued to emerge was a soundtrack that touched on the mental gymnastics that are needed to keep the psychic wolves at bay. The tension in the music to ‘Scream It Out’ is palpable. A bass riff played by strings only sets off unease as Skov deals with the head games, “You keep it inside, but it wants to come out/ It’s bottled inside, but it wants to come out/ You’re screaming on the inside, calm on the outside/ Keep it inside, though it’s rising inside you”. The music makes it clear eventually something will burst.
There’s a sense of unease to ‘Passed Down’ making one wonder, do you ever get to remove yourself from the history that surrounds you or are you condemned to live with moments that will haunt you again and again. “Passed down from my mother/ I’m passing it on/ No religion for me/ None for my son.” Do the secrets define you or are you able to leave them behind? Skov has hopes, but no simple answer and the music, defined by keyboards, keeps the question alive.
Rock from a hard place, the descending keyboard riff of ‘It Ain’t Pretty’ sounds like something from a demented fun house while Skov’s voice is mixed to sound largely uninviting. It’s a bleak track that underscores deleterious effects of aging. Looking into the mirror it becomes obvious, “It ain’t pretty when you’re growing old/ The little punks stole your rock’n’roll/ And no one looks the way they used to/ And nothing feels the way that it should.” Clearly he pain associated with growing old is not for the faint of heart.
Kira Skov creates a framework that seems to ask more questions than it answers. What Ties Us Together, Will Keep Us Apart reveals mysteries and heartache that keeps us from breaking free of our past. We replay the same scripts rather than finding new ways to deal with the trauma of old wounds. Making choices, taking chances Skov suggests offers a way forward.
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