Album Review

Agnes Obel – Philharmonics

• 25th Apr 2011

Having worked for a company that provides churnalistic accounts on what Chinese mining companies are doing in Africa, it is interesting to note the high rate of it in the music industry as well. Looking at other reviews for Agnes Obel’s album you are struck by the repeated words in the reviews – haunting, delicate, etc. – that were either copied from press releases or are part of the collective unconscious of the reviewing world. The internet is supposedly full of lots of different, original contributions, but often it breaks down into one press officer’s propaganda copied by other writers. Ahh, well, what a haunting and delicate album……………

Don’t be put off by the cover – she seems a bit stern and serious in it – a snotty Chelsea based indie girl, but it is not reflective of the album. The singer and crack pianist from Denmark has made a very varied, soft, scented-candles-before-bed sort of album that has been selling pretty well. The piano is expertly played throughout, with the title track showing a flair for intricate solo pieces, as does the whole album more broadly. This is not jazz though, but a sort of classical, folky, indie album.

All of which does sound as if Philharmonicss has the trappings of becoming a twee album pumped out by record labels in a bid to get that coveted advert song status, but it is better than that.  The sound mixes between a less quirky and far more sensible version of Regina Spektor, a less squeaky Joanna Newsom and the sort of romantic big songs of Beirut (definitely heard on the song Loretta) with a style that isn’t reducible to its constituent parts.

The first track Falling, Catching is a purely instrumental piano piece, with a lot of playing towards the right hand of the keyboard creating a complex, but a shy and retiring wistful song. Brother Sparrow with strummed guitar sounds a bit like a Jose Gonzales number with a Nico-style simple deep voice. Wallflower has cello going at it in the background rather gently, with a quality reminiscent of a soundtrack to a semi-difficult-to-follow French film. Just So being the big single that is as contemplative as the rest of the album, but with a poppy-swooning feel to it, with the plucked harp adding a romantic edge to the song.

The album feels a definite poignant middle distance view album, definitely looking out of a train at the world going by. But you definitely can imagine the songs on adverts, this suggestion not in the slightest implying that this should detract from the quality of the album. When listening to this it feels like a lot of the time I’m imagining some epic John Lewis advert, or a doleful mortgage vendor offering the hope of a low interest rate. It is actually quite a fun game to play – choose a song and imagine which advert it would be better in, reasonably priced car financing or Homebase paint sale.

All in all, this is a very good album, with some poignant songs and few cheerier numbers, that is well worth a listen, but beware of thinking up new marketing strategies for companies while you do!