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Geir Jenssen writes: "Early February 2011: Decided to make an album inspired by the Japanese post-war economic miracle. While searching for more information I found an old photo of the Mihama nuclear plant. The fact that this futuristic-looking plant was situated in such a beautiful spot so close to the sea made me curious. Are they safe when it comes to earthquakes and tsunamis? Further reading revealed that many of these plants are situated in earthquake-prone areas, some of them are even located next to shores that had been hit in the past by tsunamis.

A photo of Mihama made me narrow down my focus only to Japanese nuclear plants. I wanted to make a soundtrack to some of them, concentrating on the architecture, design and localizations, but also questioning the potential radiation danger (a cooling system being destroyed by a landslide or earthquake, etc). As the head of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said: "the plants were so well designed that 'such a situation is practically impossible'.

The album was finished on February 13th. On March 17th I received the following message from a Facebook friend: 'Geir, some time ago you asked people for a photo of a Japanese nuclear powerplant. Is this going to be the sleeve of your new coming album? But more importantly: how did you actually predict the future? Kind regards, David.'"

 
Reviews:

Boomkat (UK):

Okay so this is weird - in February 2011 Geir Jenssen finished an album that he had dedicated to the Japanese post-war reconstruction and, specifically, their futuristic nuclear program. After surveying photos he became fascinated by the idea that nuclear power plants could be built so close to seas and in earthquake-prone areas, and this slowly became the focus for the record. A few months later, hearing the album is a totally different experience - we are now in the aftermath of one of Japan's most grave disasters and Jenssen's findings have an eerie poignancy. The music itself is hardly melancholy, but has a damaged, cold, digital edge which mirrors the clean architectural perfection of these ominous structures, pre-earthquake of course. As Jenssen's clipped, purposeful rhythms make their way slowly into the synthetic patterns they guide the record and give a very fitting stark Kubrickian sci-fi haze. 'N-Plants' almost reminds me of early SND (think 'Stdio' or 'Makesndcassette') but played at the wrong speed. These are slow, booming passages of sound and carried out with a masterful ear, and the razorsharp precision of a true veteran of the field. Lazy, lackadaisical witch-house this is not, but 'N-Plants' certainly shares threads with its purposeful slow-down of dance music tropes. Rather than doing this for a specific trend, Jenssen's sound rather seems to be rooted in its subject matter; the visions of the future that remain entrenched in the past, and the hopes of our ancestors that simply end up dashed on the rocks of our mistakes. Without the context 'N-Plants' is an affecting, engrossing listening experience, and with the added air of melancholy it makes it all the more haunting. Huge recommendation.

Enjoy.