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Last fall, I fell in love with the warm, sunny songs on Oh Land’s .com/articles/10/NW1000491.php>self-titled EP. With its catchy tunes, accentuated by Danish artist Nanna Øland Fabricius’s bright, sparkling vocals, it was just the kind of music that I needed to battle the winter blahs. At the time, I predicted that the EP was just a sign of great things to come on Oh Land’s full-length debut—and now my prediction has come true.
Like the four-song EP, the 11-track album offers an intriguing mix of sounds and musical styles. There are poppy, up-tempo songs like the sweet and blissfully cheery “White Nights” and the first single, “Sun of a Gun”—both of which were included on the EP and both of which are still among my favorites on the album. With “Sun of a Gun,” especially, the infectious beats and defiant lyrics—about standing up and finally walking away from a bad relationship—make for an unforgettable pop song (one that I found myself coming back to all winter long, whenever I needed a quick musical boost).
The album also features a couple of tracks with an unmistakably retro sound. “Voodoo,” with its focus on high-pitched synthesizers, feels almost like an Erasure throwback. And the vibrant, exuberant “We Turn It Up” has hints of some of the bouncy ‘80s teen pop anthems that I used to love.
The upbeat tracks on the album are definitely catchy and memorable—but Oh Land is more than just a bunch of breezy pop tunes. In fact, the album’s most distinctive songs are slower and much more haunting—like the opening track, “Perfection.” Its light, almost angelic, vocals set against a dramatic musical backdrop of harps and organs and heavy drum beats, make it a beautiful contradiction of a song. And it’s not alone. Oh Land is sprinkled with these hauntingly beautiful tracks—tracks like “Lean,” with its heavy, orchestral instruments and minor-key melodies, and the eerie, paranormal-themed “Wolf & I” (another track from last fall’s EP). Through the darkest of music, though, Oh Land’s crystal clear vocals always win out, making these songs feel like the first ray of sunlight that manages to fight its way through the clouds after a storm.
Oh Land is a fascinating blend of sounds and themes—often mixing dark, dramatic music with sweet and almost childlike vocals. At times haunting and eerie, at times playful and cheery, it’s a wonderfully unique release by a noteworthy newcomer.
