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The Grenadines

The Grenadines

Written by: HES on 06/03/2015 09:53:15

The Grenadines is the latest branch off the by now very crowded tree that is Danish pop rock with a slight touch of folk spicing up quiet, introvert soundscape with a bit of tambourine here, and the assistance of a bit of horns there. The debut album is, as mentioned, on the quiet side, with few songs above the rhythmic intensity of a Tim Christensen piece, but the band has managed to do this in a warm and inviting manner. Although The Grenadines will not scare any demographic away, it is almost certain they will find it hard to really make any certain demographic fall irreversibly in love with them, as this self-titled album, though pleasant and euphonous, ends up being pretty toothless and dare I say it? Yes. Boring.

Lyrically and even thematically, the album is challenged by some rather predictable writing, not really supporting any greater emotional output from the songs. And although it is fairly well-produced and -mixed, the soundscape desperately lacks an instrumental hero of any sort; a couple of interesting riffs, perhaps a clever bass-line to amp up the rhythm section? But we're mainly left with regular 4/4-drums and just above campfire-level chords on the guitar. Vocally, the band again delivers a decent sounding lead vocal and a couple of folkish choir motifs. Nothing really breaks or saves the soundscape, it just carries gently on in the same tracks. It's not bad - it just isn't good really either.

I am really just left with a sensation of a boy band trying to advance into the folk-realm, without ever really changing anything outside of adding a bit of ambience. I am not really surprised to find out that band member Morten Fillipsen has a past in the Danish child version of the Eurovision Song Contest, because even though the general output is levels above what I would have expected vocally and compositionally, the album has this very conventional, dated approach to songwriting. The Grenadines may be aiming for a revamp of the sing-along rock in the tracks of Michael Learns To Rock, but I honestly doubt the world needs more of that - even though this time it’s in a folksier version.

Download: When I’m Old, Civilization, Never On Your Own
For the fans of: Tim Christensen, Michael Learns To Rock, Grand Avenue
Listen: Facebook

Release date 02.02.2015
Target Records