Wednesday 29 June 2011

amanda jenssen - charlie

this one is from amanda jenssens second album 'happyland' and is with out a doubt one of the best tracks from the record. it was swedish national radio station p3 that put me onto the lead single of the album which was called 'happyland' as well and i remember that it was something else. her first album which was recorded after coming in second place on swedish pop idol was quite of the time.

jenssen made a quite an impression with the general audience and her song at the audition was her version of "that's alright mama" a la elvis presley. with guitar at the audition and an image that wasn't the pop star thing became an early guess on what was soon to come. the first album from 2008 had that mark ronson-y 60's/70's soul revival thing to it. the second album sort of was on that direction but it felt more natural this time around and it had some real personality to it and one felt that this wasn't just copying amy winehouse/mark ronson.

the title track is really good but my favourite song on the album is one near the end and starts off like a mellow piano piece and then hook comes around and it explodes. this dynamic isn't anything new but i think the contrasts between the piano blues and low-pitched harmonies in the verses and the horns in the hook is nice. one of the elements that i love the most is the upright bass that grounds the whole track.

amanda's worries over "charlie" mystifies me also but mostly over who this "charlie" is. it sounds like he/she is the gutter either emotionally or physically and needs help. i don't really care but i like these type of songs as long as it has a really good rhythm to it.

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