Ida Maria: Fortress 'Round My Heart (re-release)
Ida Maria: Fortress 'Round My Heart (re-release)
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Thursday, 05, Feb 2009 05:04
Waterfall Records, out February 9th.
In a nutshell...
Self-destructive. Playful. Whisky-fuelled. Ultimately, lacking a sense of meaningful order.
What's it all about?
Weighing in at a very compact 30-minutes in total, Fortress 'Round My Heart clearly has no time to waste, kicking off with a series of raging assaults - like listening to a woman on the edge - which quickly descends into a melancholic plateau towards the end, where some of the more genuine lyrics can be uncovered and savoured.
Who's it by?
She was brought up in a small Norwegian town called Nesna, then studied music at a conservative school taught by missionaries where dancing was apparently discouraged, and eventually relocated to live in Sweden, where she continues to reside at present.
She was diagnosed with a neurological phenomena called Synethesia as a child, which blurs the distinction between sensory perception and allows her to see colours when she hears music. Kind of like being on mushrooms constantly, we imagine, which may explain why she describes herself as "a bit of a weirdo".
As an example...
"Treat me as you please/Leave me bleeding on the floor, from my heart's core/Love will be my grave."
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
She's slowly been soaking up praise from critics either side of the Atlantic, combining anarchic live performances with palatable Scandinavian pop.
Just won newcomer of the year award at the Norwegian Grammys, but despite being heralded as breakthrough artist for 2009, she failed to secure any nominations at the international ceremony.
If she pulls off another successful festival tour like last year, however, there's every chance she'll shortly be collecting the gongs.
What the others say
"Past live appearances have seen the singer head-butting a guitar and bleeding profusely as a result; cracking her ribs so severely, she couldn't walk for weeks; and attempting to beat up the front man of another band she'd taken against." - Times
"With lyrics that often slip quietly from exuberance to distress, Ida Maria's songs are often bleaker than they appear on first blush." - New York Times
So is it any good?
With a veritable glut of female singer-songwriters to compete with, Ida Maria seems to mimic the drunken recklessness of Amy Winehouse, while lacking her sultry vocal quality; falls short of the cutesy lyrical sounds of Kate Nash; and misses the lashing humour of Lily Allen at her best on the relationship warpath.
With all that to contend with, as well as the new emerging talents of Emmy the Great or Florence and the Machine, this album seems to lack something essential, leaving a question mark over her ability to differentiate herself in the current musical landscape.
The album's pace is chaotic from the start, filled with self-destructive inebriated sagas, which quickly unravel into a head-crunching hangover where guilt abounds.
The album would benefit perhaps from a reordering of tracks, to make the highs and lows more compelling and keep the listener's attention focused.
There are glimmers of hope, honesty and playfulness, but like someone determined to engineer their own destruction it proves hard to empathise and connect with the end result.
5/10
Laura Holt