Абсолютно Хорошее Настроение is a Russian music band formed in Volgograd in 2012. It is characterized by a wide stylistic palette (from singer-songwriter, folk and punk to art rock and progressive rock) and unusual literary-centered lyrics. Recently the band release album
Скрижали or Tablets as it is in English.
Probably, if one of the most important АХН albums had never been recorded, it would have just appeared on its own. It had to happen, and it happened. The material was accumulated for a long time – each song has its history. None of them had ever been recorded in the studio before, although some were performed by different staffs over the years. But the time has come – each thing has found its place. And everything that had previously been concealed finally stepped forward and shone with wonderful colors. It doesn’t make sense to talk about the technical side, because it won’t add anything to the understanding of the album in whole. It should say only one thing: the work of this magnitude from the АХН has not happened ever. Since the material was well studied and repeatedly performed live, it was decided to record as close to reality as possible. Everything was played as it was played at concerts and as it was conceived from the very beginning – noises and keyboards were added in the most necessary places only. Balalaika was not used in principle.
The album title came immediately, but was immediately rejected, as it seemed pompous beyond measure. Many options were considered, including the wildest. At some point it became clear that the original name is the best way to express everything that is sung and played, and in all senses at the same time. For the cover photo, this word was carved by a chisel on a concrete slab (this fact probably also means something). It is useless to consider this work from a narrowly specialized point of view, because Абсолютно Хорошее Настроение has never been a purely musical group in the traditional sense of the word – here, rather, we can talk about syncretism, i.e. about the original inseparability of all kinds of art. And in this case, we are not even dealing with a work of art, but with something like a natural phenomenon. The album exists as a certain given, which everyone is free to interpret as it pleases the soul. It remains to add that the album, although is a landmark, does not fail any outcome of life and creativity. And should not let them down. New horizons are always waiting for new researchers. And all is ahead, as in the song is sung. Check out Tablets (Скрижали) below!
So how has the release of your latest album Tablets (Скрижали) gone down with fans?
Much better than we have expected. To be honest, I’m still surprised how many people download it, share and add to playlists. We have received and continue to receive positive feedback, which is always a great joy for us. This is our first album that appeared on iTunes, Google Play and other streaming services – perhaps it sold out so widely for that very reason.
Can you tell us something about the release no one else knows?
Have you seen the album cover? It was a concrete slab that we found not far from the maternity hospital, where my daughter was born and I myself was born. Such a kind of return to the sources. That slab is still in the same place, I think.
What’s your favorite song on the album?
It is difficult to single out any one, because each song is a piece of life. I rarely talk about songs – the music should speak for itself. Perhaps the song As In The First Snow (Как По Первому Снегу) is one of most valuable to us. This is the thing where our principles are expressed most fully and vividly. We have never played anything like this before. It was a real breakthrough.
What’s next for you?
I hope that soon we shall release a lyric video for one of the album songs. This is new for us and seems to be interesting. In the future, some live recordings may be released.
Will you be touring at all this year?
So far there are no such plans, but we can always leave home and go to any place on Earth.
If you could work with any band on a new song, who would it be and why?
I can’t even imagine who it could be.
What do you all get up to your spare time?
We prefer to spend our spare time at home with our families. But we do not have so much spare time as we would like.