In The Shadows by The Rasmus

Every New Zealand #1 single…

5

In the Shadows

Topped the NZ chart: for 1 week from 23 August 2004.

In the last column, I covered ABBA’s ‘Fernando‘. This week the randomiser threw up another track from Scandinavia, from Finland’s The Rasmus. The Rasmus had been enjoying increasing success in Finland. But it was Dead Letters, their fifth album, that broke them internationally.

It was spearheaded by ‘In The Shadows’, which broke the record for performance royalties earned overseas by a Finnish composition. The record was previously held by ‘Finlandia’ composer Jean Sibelius.

Mainstream rock music suffered from increasing studio perfection in the 21st century. Legendary rock bands like The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin had some jazzy swing, and their songs could speed up or slow down. But click tracks and studio manipulation drained the life out of newer rock and roll. In the 21st century, most of the rock music I enjoy strips back the sound (like The White Stripes) or leans into a synthetic sounds (like The 1975).

There’s an interesting tension in The Rasmus’s sound. They came from a funk background, influenced by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Primus. ‘On The Shadows’ is built around a funky guitar riff. But there are also darker elements creeping in – lead singer Lauri Ylönen wears dark eyeliner and the tough guitar sound in the chorus is similar to the nu-metal popular at the time.

Ylönen’s lyrics also flirt with darkness. Preoccupied with the possibility of having to serve in the Finnish army, he sings “They say that I must learn to kill before I can feel safe/But I, I’d rather kill myself than turn into their slave.”

21st century mainsteam rock is never going to command my affection. But there’s just enough to make this song interesting. The riff is catchy, even if it’s spoiled a little by the irritating vocal hook. The jarring guitar fills leading into the verses and chorus are a nice touch.

The Rasmus are still around, even though they never matched the same international success of ‘In The Shadows’. They represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, placing 21st.

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