Customer Reviews

Trouble with Rhonda Harris

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Danish band Rhonda Harris release their second album, "The Trouble With Rhonda Harris," an ethereal little pop album with a mellow, sweet sound. This time around, frontman Nikolaj Nørlund adds a more polished sensibility to his music, as well as the sweet vocals of Lise Westzynthius. As little known as they are in the US, this album is definitely worth hunting down.

The opening track, "Young Girl and a Cowboy," sets the tone for the rest of the album -- sweet, vaguely symphonic and sort of wistful. That sound carries over to the sparkling, trip-hoppy "Kaempechok," plaintive "I Heard You Never Told Her," and mellow little "Avalanche."

But the tone changes slightly just after the start, with the slow acoustic "Big Star." The uneven "Fell Out of Love" is one of the few missteps -- the jerky delivery of the song, and the random-sounding acoustics, just sound weird. But they get back on track with the eerie organ opener of "Flatlined," continuing with the wispy ballads like "Ingensomhelst," and the almost childlike piano-led "Ingensomhelst."

Good indie-pop is hard to come by -- stuff in the vein of the Sundays or Mazzy Star. But Rhonda Harris (who, in this case, is not a person but just the band name) gives their own stamp to their music. It sounds, if anything, more ethereal and less grounded than those bands were.

One of the most striking instruments in "Trouble With Rhonda Harris" is the piano. It wends through "Young Girl and the Cowboy," "Holiday," the hymnlike "St. John," and several others. More typical rock-pop instruments like guitar come into play with "Fell Out of Love," which is led by one hypnotically repeating riff. There are also other flourishes like a tambourine, not to mention a mellow, spacey keyboard that appears in almost every song.

The vocals are a little unusual -- there are two vocalists, both of them good, and sometimes both of them performing in the same song. Nørlund does the male vocals, and he actually has a very good voice, not to mention one that's smooth and quiet. Lise Westzynthius has an even better voice -- sweet, clear and reminiscent of the Sundays' Harriet Wheeler. Sadly, in some songs she only sings backup.

Fans of the Sundays will enjoy the indie-pop sweetness of "Trouble With Rhonda Harris." Though they aren't that well known, Rhonda Harris certainly deserves to be.

The Danish singer/songwriter Nikolaj Nørlund is the mastermind of this bandprojekt. After a couple of records with Danish Lyrics that pushed Nørlund right up in the Danish musical Premier League, "The Trouble With Rhonda Harris" is an English-lyric based comeback. The Record is not Lo-fi as some of Nørlunds earlier records, but it still has a sneaking intimacy, and is moving toward airy indie-pop. The experiment is the motive power of the record. Essential to the musical expression is the arrival of the singer Lise Westzynthius and her dreamy vocal that really adds some extra sprinkle of stardust to the material. As a minor curiosity Rhonda Harris is constantly playing with linguistic formulas. Some Danish Phrases has sneaked into the lyrics as well.

The album really has an international sound, and the music reaches beautiful highs. Therefore I can only recommend to listen to the Troubles of Rhonda Harris....

This is a very heterogeneous album and nothing like "Nye Optagelser" which was Nørlund's best so far. The album changes mode all the time and the lyrics is in both English and Danish - even within the same song. But for some reason it works and I think it can take a few more spinns than "Nye Optagelser"....