Mozaic (2013) ♪♪♪
Nicu Alifantis (Romania)

Celebrating 40 years in the Romanian Music scene Nicu Alifantis can be considered the Pater Familias of the local singer/songwriter scene. To commemorate that fact Nicu does not come up with the obligatory ‘Best of’ but presents a mosaic of songs rooted in the European folk and blues tradition. In 14 songs dedicated to women, love and friendship, each with its own story written by renowned poets and writers like by Dinu Olarasu, Ion Korea, Luís de Camões, George Topârceanu, Nina Cassian, Maria Mirtiotissa, Baltag Caesar and Mihai Eminescu. The Mozaic-band, gathered specially for this project, consists of 7 musicians but throughout there are a futher 11 musicians that play a guest role. Each also adding to the global flavor the album breathes (like the Indian Yogish Agarwal in the closing ‘Kamadeva’). But before you say: “Oh dear, yet another old dinosaur make a pretentious boring album suitable for the elderly and fans only” we’d advice you to listen to album first.

For although a little high brow on paper Nicu succeeds in creating an atmosphere that sounds more like a successful jam session than a bloodless project just to please his ego. Although the influences he incorporates are diverse he and his band create a coherent sound with some uptempo songs, some mid tempo and a ballad here and there. ‘Mozaic’ has an enthusiasm that works appealing. The World-music fans should absolutely add this album to their wishlist for 2013.

>> Back to list of reviews

30 de secunde de faimă (2013) ♪♪♪♪
byron (Romania)

We started Europopmusic with the mission to seek out interesting and good pop albums from non-English countries. Usually we just go into the local recordstore and spend an afternoon of our holiday listening to albums people outside that country never heard of. In Bucharest we found that the word recordstore was not in the dictionary. Eventually we found one and so we are now able to present to you an album that is both impressive and has international appeal. ‘30 de secunde de faimă’ caught our attention thanks to the recordstore owner telling us we probably would not like it because it was too pop. Instead alternative popgroup byron (not with a capital B) gives away an intelligent calling card with this album and shows that also Romania has more to offer then simple housebeats and gypsy-brass. The album is in fact a bilingual release and also available in English. As we gather from the booklet singer Dan Byron wrote the songs first in English and then pianist 6fingers adapted them to Romanian. A difficult task since Dan’s lyrics are filled with symbolism. Like on ‘Şi dacă?’ which reads as a subtle critique against fundamentalism: “We built huge temples to keep our fear out the door,The dark is crawling near the walls drawing shadows to hide…We filled our most precious books with interdictions and laws / And promised ourselves a fabulous life on the other side…”.

Environmental issues appear on’ Balet nebunesc’ and ‘Colaj suprarealist’: “They've built a big hotel in the garden of Eden / On top a lounge with trees, apples and cheese / Where nothing's forbidden! / The heroes are at the gym to please the new designer / And there's a grimy and worn, lost unicorn / Begging for scraps at the diner”. Byron takes its 30 seconds of fame to pray for a brave new world with no war and freedom of mind. But this is not gonna happen today. “Money will disappear and all the rich guys / Will work the land as volunteers / And Wall Street suddenly will care about the whole mankind / W. will drive an electric ca / And the Pope's gonna put his faith in a jar / But it ain't gonna happen today”. (N-o să se întâmple azi). But the appeal of the album is also in the way its produced and the songs are build musically. With a main role for piano the powerrifs, guitars, violins are carefully dosed and woven through album. The result has power and energy without getting overproduced or plastered with effects, An intelligent alternative pop album and one of the best albums we came across this year. Worth a position in everyone’s year list.

>> Back to list of reviews

Det kommer aldrig va över för mig (2013) ♪♪♪
Håkan Hellström (Sweden)

Hellström never made it a secret that his biggest inspiration were Eighties bands like The Smiths (and Morrissey solo), the Sound and so on. Det kommer aldrig vara över för mig ("It'll never be over for me") his seventh studio album is a rich tribute to the indiepop of that era. Although no longer sixteen ( the singer turned 37 this year) the title track is a reminiscence of fond memories of that time. But at the end of the song Håkan knows time has gone by: “I am 39 / I am a lost self-belief / A boy from before is back again / He just stands there / And stares me right down in the soul / We should love each until the earth went under / And you should never die, no / It should never be over for you / I will love you when the earth goes under / Because I will never do, no / It will never be over for me”. It is the delicate balance between youthful pop-energy and melancholy that forms a strong backbone throughout this album. It has an adult sound but still feels like it’s made by someone who is young at heart.

Together with co-writer Björn Olsson, (and co producers Johan Forsman and Måns Lundberg.) they created a mixture of synthpop, alternative guitarpop and that musical secret ingredient that is in the water of Sweden. That icy glazing on the cake, that chill that somehow lingers underwater. A strange but not unpleasant tension. Like he describes on ‘Pistol’: “As a gun / There is always something real sticking to / Like a tick-ticking bomb inside / Keep it tight and never let it go / As the wounds in your eyes / You can only see from time to time with them / Give no time to regret / It will be good whatever comes”. The strong production of the trio also masks the fact that Håkan is a not a singer with a lot of range in his voice. A ballad like ‘Valborg’ or ‘Fri till slut’, which leans heavily on his voice, misses that and therefore form not the stronger songs on the album. But luckily on most of the songs that is not an issue. And when in need the Kent-sisters fly in to deliver some back-up vocals (Livets teater). Unlike his idols Morrissey and Kerouac (as namedropped on Street Hussle). Håkan does not take a cynical nihilistic view on life. Even better, he celebrates it and delivers the message of turning life’s lessons as a means to keep feeling young. And never regret what you have done. This does not go without struggle as he explains on the intimate closing ballad ‘Det tog så lång tid att bli ung’ (It took such a long time to get young)": “In love, but we did not know if / It will take some years, some wounds / To be young”.

>> Back to list of reviews

Jossain on tie ulos (2013) ♪♪♪
Pariisin Kevät (Finland)

After last year’s tantalizing ‘Kaikki on satua’, which we gave a justified four stars here on Europopmusic, Pariisin kevät made a giant leap in popularity in Finland. And maybe a bit too fast because although well crafted ‘Jossain on tie ulos’ sounds a bit like a hasty job. It seems the band suffers a bit from the heavy tourschedule and band leader and singer Arto Tuunelan hinted in recent interviews of forms of fatigue. Still the album opens strong with ‘Viimeinen päivä’, a song that seems to handle about the doubts that success brings: "The forest has changed the hotel corridor / numbered doors of opportunities / You walk out of the light”. And there are more strong songs on this album that remind us why Pariisin kevät is just one of the better European alternative popbands. The steady rocking ‘Jalokivia’, ending in a sonic euphoric wave of guitars, the electronically fused ‘Juhlat’ and the psychedelic ‘Lähde’ are witness to that. But with desolation as a central theme some of the songs are good but do not lift the band to a higher level.

Overall the album's sound hard, dry, rough and tight – like Knäckerbrod without jam. Stylistically, still follows the line of Mew and Kent but compared to the previous album has trouble sticking an own signature on it. Where ‘Kaikki on satua’ took you into the Finnish woods for a fairytale ride ‘Jossain on tie ulos’ hits an inner desert.  Or as the band sings: “"It was a magical touch  / is now a cheater escape route “. From an objective point of view this third album is absolutely a good poprock album and well worth a listen on Spotify. But personally I hoped for just a bit more.

>> Back to list of reviews

Lige her lige nu (2013) ♪♪♪♪
Rasmus Walter (Denmark)

Let’s start by saying that we’re happy Rasmus took the step to sing in Danish when he left Grand Avenue. The pathos that haunted that rockband is still there somewhere but now, because he sings in his own language, it is much more sincere and it just fits. And maybe less obvious for foreign ears. Now the lyrics to “Endeløst" sound less, how shall we put this, forced and out of context. “Changing mood, has thrown me around / But never gripped me again / Has been a bit crazy / By exactly when and how / before you dare to take a look at the demons / Yes, your skies are gray / Your eyes are empty / Your days are blue / Yes, you are, as you are / So vague, so far from ik 'a bit more' / Everything that you come from / Yes, it 's so endlessly”. For this album Rasmus teamed up with renowned producer Søren Mikkelsen (who worked with artists such as Savage Rose, Kim Larsen and Søren Huss (Saybia)). It explains the radiofriendly vibe of the album but Rasmus can take it as a compliment that he was able to keep some signifact personal characteristic in his music. For although some of the tracks sound equally well Coldplay-inspired, does not that sound like a copy of something else. It sounds more like a modern version of TV2 or Lars HUG. Pop with a poprock edge to it, Danish style. And in that cooperation some strong songs were born. Especially the second half of the album with the consecutive  songs ‘Forklædte Ord’ , ‘Hvad Sku’ Vi Her Vi To’ and ‘Rundt I Svinget’ are delicious and ask for constant replay. Songs that are perfect to play loud when you drive. Songs that will sound great at the summer festivals. Songs that swoop you up with energy and just sound great. No matter what the cynical Danish reviewers grumble about the lack of good lyrics. It just sounds as tasty europoprock ready for a great summer.

>> Back to list of reviews

Nowy Port (2013) ♪♪♪
Sällskapet (Sweden)

The Swedish electronic-industrial formation Sällskapet is a mysterious enigmatic side project by Joachim Thåström. With this second album he surprises friend and foe who thought the previous sinister exercise with friends Pelle Ossler and Niklas Helberg was a one time thing. This new album continues in the pseudo industrial gothic manner. Above all the music on the album will leave you estranged from the regular musical spectrum. It seems like Autechre teamed up with a singer to create a soundtrack from a very creepy and dark movie.  It sounds brutal in a sparse and desolate way. You feel the tension rising. A song like ‘E40’ sounds somewhat like Pink Floyd’s ‘On the run’, a psychotic trip to the dark side of the moon. The music sometimes sounds like it’s made with metal shards and dust sound, with a consistent industrial on-decadence-pulse. Somehow it reminds of the ‘Black aria’ album Glenn Danzig recorded back in 1996 but then more poppy and with more electronics. And although the music speaks louder than words on this partially instrumental album it is the sung songs that cause for the estranged feeling. In a sense the singers seem to move in a hostile landscape. Single ‘Såg dom komma’, with its somber voice and shamanic humming is almost sacral, if it wasn’t so ‘film noir’. ‘Nowy port’ is maybe for a lot of listeners a complex album. But if you’re either into IDM (Intelligent Dance Music) or semi-industrial stuff like Nine Inch Nails, Einstürzende Neubaten or Coil this Swedish Society is the place to find your thrills.

>> Back to list of reviews

√ (Racine Carrée) (2013) ♪♪♪♪
Stromae (Belgium)

Two years ago the Belgian Stromae (aka Paul van Haver) had a huge pan-European hit with ‘Alors on danse’. Embraced by the party crowd who took the chorus as an happy invitation to dance. In fact the song and the entire album ‘Cheese’ was an personal view on a world destroying itself in an economical crisis and hedonism. Some months back a video popped up with a clearly drunk Stromae standing at a tram-stop in Brussels and screaming his heart out to a girl unknown, saying she was ‘Formidable’. A stunt to tease the public for the upcoming album because ‘Formidable ‘ is in fact a piano ballad over which Stromae begs and crawls for his love to stay. In that sense he continues with this second album to take a critical look at how we, as humans in the 21th century, treat each other and live (eard: make a mess of things). In a stream of random sentences Stromae plays the drunk boyfriend: “Well, baby, oops: miss / I will not get hit on, I promise, I swear / I'm single and yesterday – fucking / I can not make children, but hey, it's not ... Hey, come back! / 5 minutes what, I will not be insulted, I'm polite, courteous / And a little drunk and high for guys like me”. In another song he changes parts and plays the dumped guy: “She'll dump you as they do every time” he bitterly bites over the music.

But even the hard working man gets his share from Paul on the impressive single ‘Papaoutai’. The father left to work in another country and left his son alone to grow up without him. His mother says: “She says he is never very far / he goes to work every day / Mother says working is good / Better than being in bad company / isn't it?”. But meanwhile the boy misses a role model. A sad song about ripped immigrant families and again turned into a catchy dance tune. Creating a shizo atmosphere like dancing on a volcano. Musically the album is again a selection of songs carefully constructed from on a diet of hip hop, house, eurobeat and chanson and is not much change there, but his lyrics certainly deepened. You could say that with his somber, cynical lyrics Stromae made his own homage to his idol Jacques Brel. But then on beats. It has become a divers album on which he even throws in a tribute to the deceased Cesaria Evora. Without a doubt Stromae is a unique talent within the European musicscene and a counterpart to that other modern beatpoet Grand Corps Malade from France.

>> Back to list of reviews

Het is... (2013) ♪♪♪
Eefje de Visser (Netherlands)

Dutch singer/songwriter Eefje delivered a surprising good debut two years with ‘de Koek’. A fresh combination of indiepop, electronics, folk and maybe a small hint of Dutch cabaret. A bouncy and carefree album it was. On her second Eefje has grown older, wiser and maybe got in a more contemplating mood. And so the music has become darker and more introvert. But the biggest change is that the atmosphere listens as a permanent groove over which Eefje sings her lyrics in a subtle airy manor. Rather than using clear verse-chorus structures her voice weaves over the minimal compositions actually becoming an instrument in itself dancing over or diving under the melody like soft violins. The sentences break off midway not to interfere with the melody lines. As can be clearly heard on the single ‘Ongeveer’.

The songs sometimes seem conceived as a kind of sound collages, with tinkling percussion, bouncy pianos and an occasional ghostly choir. Instruments appear regularly for a few seconds and then disappear again. Despite the number of musical layers the music never gets crowded, but it remains subdued. The special instrumentation dreamy songs get something fairy-like. Even more emphasized by Eefjes sometimes harp-like use of the guitar. Like snowdrops her voice and music flutter from your speaker. In a way, this manor of performing songs reminds me somewhat of French chanteuse Camille that builds entire popsongs just by flexing and multiply dubbing her voice. In comparison this is maybe also the small disadvantage of the way Eefje constructed this album. At some point you want to shake her and beg her to drop her cool and just scream or throw any dissonance into this perfect but icy soundscape. You want the snow to whisk into a storm but what you get is a beautiful, wonderous but cold winter landscape.

>> Back to list of reviews

10 (2013) ♪♪♪
Zweitfrau (Austria)

Although they released their first album in 2009, 2013 is the official year for the Austrian popband to celebrate their 10th anniversary. Being around since 2003. And so their third album is called ‘10’ (not counting their remix project ZW RMX). With new drummer Christoph Schödl the band changed their sound somewhat and added some rock to their glam pop sound. This can result in ‘Dude I rock’. An almost cliché rocksong with a strong powerriff to get your attention and then a thrusting rocksong in 2.30 minutes. Although crude it is a catchy radiopleaser but luckily the band sticks closer to their regular Europopmusic formula on the other songs. Like single ‘Perfekt’ that starts with a simple synth sequence and then builds up to an euphoric ‘ohohoh’ sing-a-long over stomping beat in the chorus.

The band keeps on this rockpath for almost all ten songs but pleasantly kicks back halfway for the bluesy ‘Immer weit (ticktock)’. And is it me or does singer Diana Lueger sounds  more and more like Aimee Mann accompanied by the Foo Fighters? Check a song like ‘Shiva’ (one of the better tracks on the album) or English-sung album closer ‘Love, Baby Love’ to get what I mean. Zweitfrau’s jubilee is maybe not the most discerningly album of this year but it is festive and isn’t that just what anniversaries are for? It is an album to step in your car, turn up the volume and hit the highway between Salzburg and Vienna. Music to drive fast – Austrian style.

>> Back to list of reviews