At first listen I thought Alaska In Winter sound like the ambient side of a style of music that emerged in the early-to-mid 90s called "darkwave". As I continued listening however, I started picking up on more of a modern, almost emo-pop influence to their sound. Listening longer still I began to feel the Balkan side of their music, but don't start thinking of the ecstatic, horn-driven rhythms of the Bucovina club, think of somber and melodic, electronic pop ballads set atop sounds of slowly floating ambience and vocoded melodies. Of course little of this really correlates to the album title, "Dance Party in the Balkans". But how do you take that? is it irony or just a case of gross contradiction?

1. The Homeless And The Hummingbirds
2. Your Red Dress (Wedding Song at Cemetery)
3. The Beautiful Burial Flowers We Will Never See
4. Balkan Lowrider Anthem
5. Lovely Lovely Love
6. Twenty Four Hours In Lake Of Ice
7. Dance Party In The Balkans
8. Harmonijak
9. Staring At The Sun
10. Don't Read Dostoyevsky

If you've followed the current popularity of Balkan club music you'd be well within your rights to expect Alaska In Winter to be delivering another southeastern European hip shaker in the style of Shantel's most recent album "Disko Partizani". Well, your rights would be flat wrong in this case.

Maybe it all has something to do with the fact that the band are based in Berlin, Germany. Or maybe that just thickens the plot?

Alaska In Winter's music begins from a focus on its melodies, which can be built on something as simple as a lone piano tune, violin, or intensified into an 80s tinged, vocal harmonized pop ballad with just enough bite in its beats to make your head mildly nod in response. At other times, their songs are fronted by lush, heavenly vocals, drifting so slowly that you almost wish there was an icy river within view so you could watch the ice sheets drifting slowly by. The two most prevalent elements in their music are the piano and 80s synth keys, which, when combined with the harmonized vocals, may force your mind to draw comparisons to a handful of modern "clash/pop" acts, but don't linger on it.

Is there going to be dancing? Not so much. Is it a party? A very somber one, but for some, yes. Is it Balkan, or do you feel like you're having a party their? The answer to that is likely to be as varied as the region's (and the bands) cultural influences, which I'm sure aren't solely focused on fun-loving, hip shaking, belly dance parties. Like the Balkans and its people, Alaska In Winter are sometimes beautiful, sometimes a little more care-free, other times brooding, and others still, soothing and heavenly. Always more granite gray than most other colors.

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