Rasmus, the

The Finnish group had already released several records before Dead Letters arrived in 2003. Into in 2001, including F-F-F-Falling and Chill, supplies a useful view of the preceding chapter. The melodic instinct is present before the later international image becomes so familiar.

Dead Letters brings In the Shadows, First Day of My Life, In My Life and Guilty into one album. Lauri Ylönen’s voice has a distinctive grain and a tendency to make a short phrase feel unsettled, while the guitar and rhythm section give the song a clear physical direction. The darker atmosphere does not require the tune to become obscure. The music often works by keeping the hook unusually easy to follow.

Hide from the Sun followed in 2005, with No Fear and Sail Away showing different aspects of the record. A more forceful instrumental entrance and a more restrained melodic setting both belong to the same group vocabulary. Black Roses in 2008 adds another chapter, including Livin’ in a World Without You, before the later catalogue takes the band through further changes of personnel and production. The early-2000s sequence remains valuable because it captures a particular balance: the arrangements can suggest unease while the chorus offers the release of a clear, singable phrase. That quality gives the records an accessible surface without removing the tension inside them. In the Shadows is the most familiar example, but the neighbouring albums reveal how deliberately the band could adjust the amount of shadow around a melody.