HILJAISUUS

I had ambivalent feelings when I heard in advance about the upcoming stylistic changes of this Finnish group, whose debut album (2023) I favourably reviewed last week. The band wrote -- freely translated -- that "the path of the organic sound in the early releases has been walked through and now we are seeking new paths". Having precisely enjoyed their organic, folky sound, these words sound rather suspicious. What's to come, then? Something more synthetic? This new song 'Hiljaisuus' (= Silence) was released today, so I'm really an early bird this time.

The melodic song itself is quite nice, not radically different from the debut album's material. The voice of Jenna-Marie Laine is as pretty as ever and the lyrics are all right. Also the flute is still heard. The style of production is different. The steady basic rhythm is very underlined sonically, and this is negative to me and presumably to the majority of prog and folk oriented listeners. On Facebook the band refers to the soft rock of Fleetwood Mac and 10cc. Yeah, I get that, the composition wouldn't have been totally out of place on the mid-70's or newer Fleetwood Mac albums, and the vocal harmonies in the background makes me think of 10cc's 'I'm Not in Love'. Overall the production is bigger and uses more synthesizers than before. Considering the group's folk leanings this far, the dreadful word "over-produced" undeniably enters the minds of the listeners.

In theory it's respectable when a band doesn't want to keep doing things the same way as before, as long as they do what they themselves really want, instead of commercial attempts. I don't know what they think of the beat -- and drums in general -- mixed rather loudly to the front, but it's disappointing for me. But otherwise, not a bad pop song at all. Nothing to do with prog, of course. My initial "shock" shouldn't affect too mercilessly for my rating. The minus may be a long one, but three stars still seems more adequate than two.

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