Whatever the new year brings, we are starting 2021 right with Gemini Inc.‘s self-titled debut album that came out on 1. January. Gemini Inc. are the musician/singer/producer duo Søren Vistisen Baldwin and Jonas Krohn Gervin, and the “Inc.” points to their other outlets as a creative community: painting, dancing, filmmaking. The duo first caught our attention last year with their ear-worm single “Adam”.
Being a gemini myself and intrigued by the promise of this LP being hard to put in genre, I was smitten instantly. So I pressed play, lay down, and closed my eyes.
Occasionally, it sounded like there was something wrong with my speakers — until I realised that it is intentional, surprising tones and elements of the songs. It makes my heart sing to witness the will to experiment without borders, not caring about selling out. Gemini Inc. themselves state that their debut album is “a sporadic and almost schizophrenic collection of songs, showing a mind in chaos. It is a mind trying to figure out what stance it should take in this world, what’s wrong with it, what’s important in it, all while fighting the constant self-doubt coming from it’s twin personality: Gemini.“
My favourites on this album are the dark and unpredictable “not my fault” and “end of our days”. In general, the songs range from acoustic pop to emo and post-rock, to completely unclassifiable. Very few songs are pop hits like “Adam”. Many more, such as “Realise”, “December” and “The Project”, depict artistic sound design without the desire to fit into the classic song structure. The last track “GEMINI” gave me HD goosebumps. “Gemini, if I could only feel / my duality / keeps me from being real / keeps hanging over me“, is sung so seriously before confessing one’s “wish to separate“. Crispy clear vocals meet explosive but muffled drums, as if those are played underwater, desperate to get to the surface but held down by something.
I did wish for some kind of detonation during the listening journey. “Gemini Inc.” seem too disconnected to form a strong, unified sound and message, but maybe this is the message exactly. The tragedy of being unable to go straight forward because they are receiving sensations from left and right, up and below all the time. Too torn to form that special, yearning sound that, for example, Blaue Blume are famous for.
So, “Gemini Inc.” will not make you feel whole but it will make you appreciate all the little tones in between. It is the words between the lines, the grey areas that make up this album’s great strength. I’m curious about how this young band will translate their sound on stage. I sure want to be the first in line to experience that.
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