Lopez Blogs

Oh Laura ~ A Song In My Head, A Demon In My Bed: If Christian is the epitomy of feel good pop, then swedish pop group Oh Laura are the entirely beautiful antithesis to that. Their debut album (brilliantly titled) is an exquisite journey through lost love, damaged relationships and painful emotions. It’s Aimee Mann, Bjork, Tori Amos and Indigo Girls all baked on high and covered in a bittersweet frosting. Debut single is almost painful to listen to so stark are the emotions laid within, with Frida’s vocals positively shivering with hurt and desperation over a melancholy piano background. It’s mesmerising and intruiging and I can’t listen to it without getting goosebumps all over my body. The rest of the album is equally triumphant in this respect. Mournful Call To Arms and accusatory It Ain’t Enough are well told tales of relationship woes that highlight the woeful inadequacies and seemingly shallow observations that Kate Nash and the new ilk spit out. Not all songs are of a slow tempo ~ tracks like Black and Blue and Fine Line pep along with the guitar driving the tune forward and clever lyrics like “we were perfect lovers, you were Bobby I was Pam, but Bobby found another, so he told me second hand”. All the work contained within the album is astonishingly adept at telling different stories, perspectives, emotions and feelings - however, a moment of stunning beauty and clarity appears in the immaculate Raining In New York. On first listen the minimal percussion juxtapositioned with her haunting voice made me literally sit up until she reaches the poetic chorus, strings gently build up and you are awash in a world where devastating pain has never sounded so lovely. I need a hug (back to the Christian album then…)