Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Emotionally powerful acoustic pop, September 26, 2006
Marit Larsen proves with this album that she is possibly the most skilled lyricist to emerge from the turn-of-the-century pop craze. Her songs resonate perfectly with a wide range of emotion, yet have a depth and complexity that makes them grow even more beautiful with more listens.
"Solid Ground" is a delicate ballad that speaks, first between the lines and then directly, the pain of the struggle to keep yourself... if you're familiar with the history of Marit's career in M2M (or even if you're not), you will be touched. "Under the Surface" is a tour of a jealous love, backed up with a beautiful melody that brings out the song's pleasure and pain. "Don't Save Me" and "Only A Fool" are lighthearted tunes that celebrate the freedom to leave a broken relationship. All in all, the album speaks of living as yourself and loving that life, even in painful situations. It's a short album, but it says a lot in its subtleties, and it is ultimately very uplifting.
Musically, the album lacks the synthetic sugariness of Marit's early hits with M2M, but replaces it with a more mature and organic style of acoustic pop, allowing Marit to show a wider range of vocal talent than on either of the M2M albums. She also takes on several new instruments beyond her usual acoustic guitar (the album includes two very effective piano ballads). Some of the songs (particularly "Only A Fool" and "Come Closer") are more folksy than Marit's pop background would suggest; as someone who isn't generally a big fan of folk music, I can say that on this album, the presence of banjo and harmonica on some tracks only serves to bring out the soul of the music even more.
I'd recommend Under the Surface both to fans of the old style of teen pop (like myself) and those who preferred music that was more "real". Marit continues to write virtually all of her own material, and it shows in her subtle but sometimes haunting vocal delivery.
|
|
|
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Marit Larsen - A LOT lies "Under the Surface", November 30, 2006
An amalgamation of all things musically beautiful, Marit Larsen's debut album "Under the Surface" is the most refreshing 38 minutes of music I've ever listened to, and the polar opposite of Marion Raven's "Here I am". After hearing how incredibly different their styles are, I can't help believing that the break-up of M2M was better for both of them. Marit has proven that her rightful place is in the spotlight every bit as much as Marion was, which is why to this day I'll never understand why she took a back seat to Marion in M2M. I honestly find her to be a musical genius.
1-part Dixie Chicks, 1-part Norah Jones, 1-part Broadway Musical or old-school Disney soundtrack, and all-parts awesome is the label I'd try to place on her style, but in all honesty, I feel like categorizing it in the way of "trying to label what it sounds like" really downplays how truly original it is.
Let me first say that if you really love American pop radio, you will not enjoy this album half as much as the rest of us who are sick of society's constant barrage of booty-shaking, lyrically-retarded muck that plays on the American-mainstream radio. This album is for the more sophisticated and mature music lover. I'd definitely point you in the direction of Marion's album if you're looking for something that's radio-friendly because Marit's is definitely not. That's part of what makes me love it so much. It employs the use of so many different kinds of non-radio-friendly instruments, (banjo, mandolin, cello, viola, xylophone) it's almost as if she was deliberately trying to not be radio-friendly.
1. In Came the Light. the album's opening introductory track is simple, beautiful, soft, and deceptively short before the first real song begins. I liken this track to the opening credits just before a movie begins. 8/10 track begins.
2. Under the Surface. the immediate thought I had as this track began was "this sounds like something out of a classical Disney movie." Marit's voice at the start of this track is already a testament as to how much she's grown as a vocalist and songwriter. I absolutely love the strings they use on this song, and the piano that accompanies it is already more complex and beautiful than anything on Marion's album. I also like how the melody is so complex it seems as though there are several key changes when in fact there are not any or at least not between the three choruses. The subject of the song is this: Marit is paranoid about her new boyfriend, believing that there may still be some kind of special love he has for his ex and she wants him to have the same love for her (or moreso) than he did for his ex. 9/10
3. Don't Save Me. I suppose if she had ONE single on this album that could be considered radio-friendly, it would be this one. With that said, I actually really enjoy this song. It kind of reminds me of Sixpence None the Richer (The group that did "Kiss Me" and "There She Goes"), although I don't think they used piano. I love the hand-claps used throughout as well. This would have been a great radio single in the 90's. One thing I've noticed a lot with this album, is that you can practically hear Marit smiling and you can just tell that she is enjoying her newfound freedom being able to record what and how she wants. It's so great to hear an artist that is clearly enjoying themselves in the studio. 9/10
4. Only a Fool. The opening harmonica and banjo (or mandolin) make it clear that this album is going to have all different kind of musical flavorings. I started to love this song when she starts to harmonize with herself. This song was the first that I felt had Dixie Chicks influences. One thing that should also be noted about this song is the use of the cartoony slide-whistle for absolutely no reason. I love it. It's just thrown in too make the song more fun and light and thusly making it even less radio-friendly. The subject of this song is that a guy is wishing for Marit to take him back but she's recounting all the things that went wrong and has come to the conclusion that "only a fool" would do that again. 9/10
5. Solid Ground. I really like the piano used in this song as well, but overall I'd say the melody to this song was the most basic and boring of all the tracks. Wellmaybe the last track is worse. The message in this song is great and honestly I wonder if it is about her frustrations with being a part of a huge-corporate music recording company and "keeping her head above it all" during her time there. "They will always pull you down. Before you know it they will take your smile and push you around. They will fight and struggle, blur and trouble your sense of solid ground." It sounds to me like Marit felt as though she was never able to find her footing in the American music market and didn't like the person she was becoming as a result. That's just my interpretation. Anyway, the song is beautiful and simple but has a profound message in it as well. 8/10
6. This Time Tomorrow. This song immediately reminded me of an Irish dance "jig" or something like that. It seemed instrumentally like something that people would dance around to at a pub or something. Such sad lyrics though. This song is about a girl who is so paranoid in her relationships and has such low self-esteem that she believes no matter what a guy says to her and does for her, he's only going to break her heart in the end. In fact, she seems to search for things that he's doing wrong so she can accuse him of it and end the relationship herself. I wonder what inspired this? Perhaps Marion? I don't know. Anywaylike I saidmelodically it's a lot of fun.
9/10
7. Recent Illusion. I can't remember the last time I heard a xylophone in a song. This song also has a completely different feel from the others. I love how it opens with the cello and xylophone. But the BEST part of this song in my mind is Marit's "chicka-ch" she does after the choruses. Just more fun and random sound-effects thrown in to make the record more "her". Her vocals seem a little too weak on this song for some reason. Perhaps she wanted it that way. She seems raspy, or breathy or something. Simple and short at only two minutes and six seconds so I'm not gonna go into a long drawn out review of it. 7/10
8. The Sinking Game. I think this song is my favorite on the album. It reminded me of a song from a video game I used to own called Conker's Bad Fur Day. I just compared them and they're both in the same key so that probably has something to do with it. I love how relaxed and just plain fun it is. There are so many random sound effects used and stuff that I just can't help but love it. I'd absolutely love to see this one performed live to see all the things they used to make sound effects (if they weren't synthesized) I'll be honestI'm so caught up in the music of this song that I don't have a clue what the lyrics are about. I noticed something about diving into disease which sounds screwy at best. The melody and attitude of the song are just so catchy and fun it's like it doesn't really matter what the lyrics are about in my mind. 9/10
9. To an End. when this song first starts out it sounds like it might be a pretty sad one, but as it continues on, it starts to sound like a romantic song. I liken it to something you'd hear while riding in one of those boats through Venice sitting with your sweetheart or something. Actually, the first thing I thought of when I heard it was Lady and the Tramp in the scene where they're eating spaghetti. I'll be honest againI also haven't really listened that closely to the lyrics of this song because it's just so mellow and soft that I find myself tuning them out. 7/10
10. Come Closer. A very close runner with "The Sinking Game" for my favorite song on the album. I just absolutely love the use of so many different kinds of instruments and musical styles. When it cuts to the chorus it sounds like something Dave Matthews or John Mayer would sing, but then I guess that probably has something to do with the referral to the person as though their name is "love." This song also has Marit's strongest vocal performance where toward the end she just belts out some strong notes. This song really has something that everybody should find enjoyable. 9/10
11. Poison Passion. Again I didn't really listen to the lyrics here. The melody is sad and quite depressing in my opinion. Doesn't seem like the kind of way I'd want to end my album. But with all this said, the stringed-instrument accompaniment to this song is beautifully somber. 8/10
FINAL SCORE: 10/10 (Not an average, obviously)
How can an album that did not receive a 10/10 on any song possibly receive a final score of 10/10? The album as a whole is so wonderfully diverse. Each and every song is a slice of musical genius, and (in combination with one another) the album is the most unique collection of music I've ever listened to. I honestly love this album already more than I ever loved M2M's music. So Marit, I have to say: mission accomplished. I always knew you had talent. But I never thought you were this good.
|
|
|
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Musical Fusion, November 27, 2006
I bought the album about six months ago, after hearing some of the songs off of the internet. I must say the album is just wonderful, with my favorite tracks being Under the Surface, Come Closer, Only a Fool and the Sinking Game. Okay, the whole album is just a delight to hear.
Some of the songs are lyrically brilliant, others vocally... and some are a great mix of both. The amazing thing about it is that you can just put it on and not skip ANY of the songs. They're fun. catchy, yet soothing~ I love the fusion of great pop music (that has been lacking in the past couple of years), hints of country and folk with a bit of magic realism mood in the mix.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
Interact With Your Music: Discover, listen to, and buy new music, all from the pages of SPIN's digital edition, free to Amazon customers.
by Marit Larsen 
