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.

Love Affair

It's strange. Strange how no matter what I'll always return to them.

My feelings for the girls of M2M are strong, but for the longest time I had thought that my interest in them had waned. I stayed with them through the breakup, but the more time moved on from that point, the harder it was to stay the course.

Marion did a great job with the first CD, and it's still a favorite of mine. Marit on the other hand made things a bit more difficult, choosing to focus her career in her home country. A couple more albums, a judging stint on Norwegian Idol and no Marit in Asia, and I was starting to get tired of them both. Or indifferent.

Then today, I saw it. I saw Spark on the store shelf. And it automatically signaled my brain: Get it. Now.

And now I am an owner of Marit's 3rd album. Yeah, I know I had made it clear that I wasn't too excited about the direction Marit is taking this album to, but like I said: I can't just let her go. Or Marion. My love affair with them just won't end, regardless of what they do or don't do. My enthusiasm may be less than before, but my heart won't change.

I plan to write a review on this CD soon, so wait for it.

What's On TV: The Walking Dead

This show has been on my mind all week. A rare feat indeed.

The Walking Dead had reached a mid-season finale this week, and it's a real whopper of an ending. I kinda ruined it for myself by finding out what happened before the episode screened here, but it was still awesome.

TWD takes place in a world where nearly everyone is dead. The dead have come back to life in the form of zombies and they walk the earth, feeding on the living.

In this world, deputy sheriff Rick Grimes struggles to keep watch over his wife and son, as well as the small group of people with him. Together they seek hope and refuge in the insane place the world has become. For them, it gets harder each day as the dead constantly hunt them down and the pressure takes its toll on them. Each person's priorities and feelings start to disintegrate and tempers flare, thereby increasing the likelihood of them becoming zombie food.

It's amazing that a show based on a graphic novel can be such a hit. Writer Robert Kirkman deserves tons of credit for coming up with an idea that entertains, thrills and tears up your heart at the same time. Sure, the show may seem like a war against zombies on the surface, but it's far more than that. It makes you question how to live in a world where the things you took for granted are now suddenly so important, and what you valued so much, like the internet, your job and money don't matter anymore.

As the show progresses, the characters start to change, some for better, some for worse. It's the dynamics of the show and its people that make me want to tune in every week. Some may say that it's been a slow season, but I've been having a ball of a time with this.

If you don't mind gore and blood and monsters, try making time for this. Trust me.

Travel

I'm going away on a trip tomorrow. It's my third one this year, and out of all three, this is the one I am least looking forward to.

Why? Let's just say I was coerced into going.

Even now, I don't want to go, but I have no choice. It's done and set, so I can't back out. Deep down I'm still angry for the way this happened, but I'm doing my best to not kick myself over stuff I can't change at this moment.

The only thing I can do is try to enjoy myself, and who knows I might. One thing's for sure, when I get back, I'm going to do what I want, when I want.

I'll see you soon. My apologies for not updating here as often as I ought to.