Apple Bay

Irene | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 2, 2006)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Labrador Sweden
• ASIN: B000IY01IE
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #695,089 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

''I love you. I love you. I love you.'' It's almost impossible to talk about Irene's debut without using ecstatic clich‚s. Apple Bay is an album without a single weak moment. It's twelve timeless pop songs, each one good enough to be a single anytime, any year. It's an album that would have sounded just as good in 1962 as it will do in 2012. A major classic. Irene was spontaneously formed in 2004/2005 after the singer and songwriter Tobias Isaksson, aka Bobby, had written 'Stardust'. Just like his favorite bands he was fascinated by the combination of deadly seriousness and plain joy. To record this first song he gathered seven of his friends and recorded 'Stardust'. A manifesto of Irene in 1 minute and 13 seconds with choirs, tambourines, handclapping, percussion, brass and everything they could find. It's the sound of sun and west coast summers. When Irene follow up their highly appreciated debut single 'Baby I Love Your Way' with this album they have further sharpened their ability to explore and refine musical history, added even more shades of summer love and added even more members. They write classic pop with a touch of 60's girl groups, soul and Housemartins brass as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb, April 18, 2007

By 

Sacco (here there and everywhere) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Apple Bay (Audio CD)

Apple Bay by Irene is a perfect little gem of an album, and with 12 songs and clocking in under half an hour it is a little album. But that's one of its strengths, Irene know not to over stay their welcome, they just fire off melodic classic pop rock numbers and leave.

While the material is hardly original (I'd bet on the song writers being big fans of the Magnetic Fields and Burt Bacharach, and probably Camera Obscura as well) Irene have a strong enough personality and charisma to save it from being derivative. Unlike the Magnetic Fields' electronic processing and eclecticism Apple Bay is organic and focussed (though intricately crafted), and they're far more turbo charged than both Burt and Camera Obscura. What's more they have create great enough songs to compete with the likes of Stephin Merrit and Mr Bacharach and the rest.

If you love good pop rock in the indie vein then this album can't really be recommended strongly enough. It's as timeless as rock can get and as up lifting as warm hug from a friend you've not seen in ages but didn't know you missed so badly.