Amandine - Solace In Sore Hands

  by Jamie Rowland

published: 3 / 4 / 2007

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Swedish band Amandine's second LP is a pleasure to listen to. The soft vocals and multitiude of instruments recall Sufjan Stevens's more explicitly folky moments, and fans of Mr Stevens will almost certainly enjoy this record. Album opener 'Faintest of Sparks' is a sparse, banjo-led track with a beautiful melody. As the track progresses,more instuments are added, but the song never builds to anything more boisterous, and nor should it have to. 'Silver Bells' feels like a song that could be by Belle and Sebastian, with it's driving rhythm and upbeat music. Olof Gidlöf's vocals really remind me of those of Jason Lytle ofGrandaddy on a good few of the tracks. Alhough all the songs on 'Solace in Sore Hands' are very good, like some of Sufjan Stevens releases, the album becomes a bit too much of the same thing towards the second half. That's not to say that the songs are bad - they are all actually very good - but about halfway through the album you just start to think "come on guys, put a bit more oompf into it!" It would have been really nice to have had the record broken up with a real energy burst every now and then. This is an album well worth getting hold of, especially if you enjoy chilled out folk-influenced music, I just hope that Amandine can add a bit more kick to their next record.

Track Listing:-

1 Faintest Of Sparks
2 Chores Of The Heart
3 Silver Bells
4 Standing In Line
5 Soldier's Hands
6 Iron Wings
7 Our Nameless Will
8 Better Soil
9 Secrets
10 Shadow Of Grief
11 New Moning

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