Affinity
Affinity finds a productive use for synthetic sounds that can seem deliberately dated. Haken place bright keyboards and electronic drum colours inside heavy, changing arrangements, giving the record a clear identity before its larger ideas become apparent. The surface is playful, but the music underneath often feels tense and unsettled.
1985 is the fullest early demonstration. Its bass presence and keyboard leads give the song an immediate attraction, while the shifting rhythmic setting prevents those sounds from becoming only a period costume. The vocal melodies remain clear through the changes, making an extended arrangement feel approachable. Initiate provides a shorter, firmer entrance to the album, and Lapse gives the melodic side more room to establish itself. These more direct songs are useful because the record's most elaborate passages need a recognisable world to depart from.
The Architect occupies the centre with a much larger design. Its quieter sections and heavier returns create considerable scale, and Einar Solberg's guest voice adds a harsher edge to the performance. Some instrumental ideas leave a stronger individual impression than the full journey, but the band's ability to change the emotional weight of a passage remains impressive. Earthrise is more persuasive through concentration: its open melodic character and uneven rhythmic movement give it personality without requiring another long development. Red Giant then offers a darker, more measured groove, allowing atmosphere to do more of the work.
The Endless Knot brings back a more abrasive electronic and guitar interaction before Bound by Gravity closes patiently. The final song's repeating patterns gradually widen into something substantial, and its calm opening gives the album a useful place to recover after the preceding activity. Affinity is not equally involving at every scale, but its strongest choices make the combination of familiar keyboard colours and forceful playing feel purposeful. Haken succeed most convincingly when the arrangement serves an immediately recognisable phrase, as on 1985 and Earthrise. Those songs make the record's unusual sonic world worth entering, while the deeper instrumental detail supplies plenty of reasons to stay.
