The first album in 11 years from this Swedish band creeps out bearing the name “Non-Binary”. Boasting to be one of the best releases of 2008 this promises satisfaction “for fans of synthpop as well as fans of all quality pop music.”
I would agree only with the latter. There is nothing overly synth-pop-esque here for me. Yes I can hear the keyboards but I can hear the acoustic guitars, drum kit and harmonic vocals of Jesper Palmqvist and the rest of the band more than anything else. Make no mistake, he has a great powerful voice, but it’s average sounding.
I just feel this album is lacking any hooks or melodies to get me interested at all. I mean Diary of Dreams did acoustic versions of their songs live, stripping away their whole highly technological set-up to literally just a couple of guys with guitars, but the formula was there in Adrian Hates’ voice and the songs he writes to be amazing even on the most basic set-up.
If you’re into the more acoustic, indie style, then take the money you were going to spend on this album and buy something else that’s alot more catchy yet soulful like Keane’s debut album, or something a little lighter like Ghosts’ “The World Is Outside” (should have got more recognition).
I could break down the songs and talk about why this just doesn’t do it for me, but to be honest it’s a little hard to distinguish one from the other. Then again, of course, a review is a point of view. Check out their myspace, listen to a few of the very short clips they’ve put up there and who knows, they might be your new favourite band!
http://www.kiethevez.com/
http://www.myspace.com/kiethevez
Tags: album, band, binary, group, Kiethevez, new, non, non-binary, release, review, sweden, synth-pop, synthpop
