Wednesday, January 4, 2012

CD Review: Marit Larsen's Spark

Let me get a couple of things out of the way first. Number one: Marit's voice has always been her biggest flaw. She's a great musician and a skilled songwriter. But her vocals are not outstanding. I'm not saying she can't sing, I'm saying her voice has a limited range. Some of her songs benefit from it, others don't.

Number two: I'm not a fan of country music. I don't hate it, but I can't like it that much either. So my opinion on Marit's attempts to sound country on this album may be swayed by this fact. Okay?


Songs
From a writing standpoint, both lyrical and melodical, Marit scores a lot of points here. She writes great lyrics, I'll give her that. Her melodies, which shift from catchy in one song to slow and quiet the next, are well executed.

However, not all of them are good. Keeper Of The Keys is a quiet ballad, much too quiet actually. It was bold for her to start the album with this song, since most artistes begin with a fast number and save songs like these for the last. Bold, but ill advised. Keeper and the last track, That Day, suffer from the same quietness. When Marit tries to pair her vocals against low piano and guitar, it sounds like she's loudly whispering and drowning out the instruments. It'll probably work in a live setting, but I don't think it worked here.

Coming Home and Don't Move are the faster songs here, and unfortunately they sound almost the same. I know some of you will be able to distinguish them, but I'm having a hard time. Other than the lyrics and a few arrangement differences, they sound more or less similar. They do sound good though.

Me And The Highway and Last Night are my least favourite tracks, because of....yeah they sound country. I'm sorry, I just can't like it. I wish she had put more keyboard or electric guitar or synthesizer or something in them.

I Can't Love You Anymore is nice. It's a ballad that doesn't sound too sad. It's heartfelt and heartbreaking, but not mushy. Well written and well performed.

What If is the closest Marit gets to sounding different altogether. The verses are played with a touch of pop and R&B, but Marit goes back to her usual style when the chorus hits. With a bit more effort and daring on her part, this song could have been awesome. Right now for me it's just very good.

I think the two tracks I like most would be Have You Ever and Fine Line. The former is kinda like Taylor Swift's You Belong With Me in terms of concept, only Marit does it way better. Marit makes it sound very creative and fresh, I love that. The latter song is a nice ballad that goes straight for the heart. Nicely done.


Vocals
As I said before, Marit's vocals are her weakness. It's most evident on the quiet first and last tracks. Sometimes she even sounds like she's murmuring and I can't make out what she's singing. I know that's what lyric books are for, but I want to hear the words myself instead of reading them.


Inlay
One picture, one cover and a whole bunch of words? That's it? Whoever did this inlay is either lazy or rushing things. I certainly hope it isn't Marit's idea. I mean, come on. Give your fans some nice pics of yourself. It doesn't hurt to be generous.


Video
I saw the video to Coming Home a few weeks back, and I was sorely disappointed. Too many shots of the band and no creativity in it at all. Compare this video to If A Song Could Get Me You and you'll see what I mean. Like the inlay, this felt lazy and rushed.



Overall, I'll give Spark three out of five stars. I applaud Marit for writing some really good lyrics and some very neat arrangements here and there. But there is a lot of room for improvement. I feel like I need to see her play live in order to fully appreciate her music, when it should be me appreciating how the CD sounds like before wanting to hear the live version. Someone I know said she's too kitsch, I wonder if that's true.

3 comments:

Anouk said...

Oof, I'm surprised you still gave her three out of five after reading this post. Sounds like you were very dissapointed in her work. I'm sorry you do. As a great country fan, I know I was much more positive about the album than you and I have to say I don't agree on some stuff, like the pronounciation. I can understand her just fine without the book.

I think Marit is speaking a language of her own and based on the documentary I saw, she's completely in charge of everything that happens. I'm sorry she let you down here and there. If it makes it any better, I think she tried hard not to :)

Ira Roslan said...

She wasn't letting anyone down. Music is art. Whether one likes it or not, it makes no difference.

I like the fact that she takes her work seriously. I don't like to -like- her works even though I know I used to be a fan.
For me it's all too different now anyway.

I agree that her vocals are a little... distracting, I'd say. Like too much sugar and you can only have so much at a time.

But I have nothing against country/folk music. Alanis Morissette was once an inspiration on my part.

In Germany they love her. Coz she's "sweet, lovely, charming"... I hear a lot about what's on her outside but not much about the music.

Aaron said...

Thank you ladies, for your comments :)

Anouk: I'm sure Marit tried her best and did not mean to let anyone down. She can't please everyone. I appreciate the effort she made here, I just wish I could take more away from it.

Ira: I never thought of Alanis as country / folk, she was more towards alternative rock in my opinion. You are right about her being too sweet though. She truly was the lighter side of M2M.