HIMLABACKEN VOL. 1

Well, after so many fantastic new releases in 2013, I guess on ehad to be disappointing, even if just slightly disappointing. Please don´t get me wrong: Moon Safari´s most recently work is far from a weak album. The main problem is that, after producing two studio masterpieces and a terrific double live album in a row, you began to create maybe an unrealistic expectation towards this band. That´s the feeling I get.

Ok, the album starts very well with a short vocal dominated introduction (Kids) goind straight to the CD´s best track: Too Young To Say Goodbye. There´s nothing really new here, it sounds like an out take from their previous work, Lover´s End. But it also is a fine song and has the same freshness, high energy and joyful delivering the band was famous for, combining very well their outstanding instrumental musicanship with their absolute unique vocal style. From then on, though, it´s a slow decline. The songs begin to falter, being very well performed and sung, but lacking in inspiration. It seems the band is running out of ideas and repeating itself. Too much vocals and less instrumental passages. Some of the vocal parts are not as inspired either, looking like they were put there more to show off how technically skillful they are rather than to use it as a tool to enhance the melodies like before.

It´s hard to believe that tracks like My Little Man and Sugar Band are here. They are probably the weakest tracks I´ve heard from them since their debut. The latter being specially as cheese as the title implies. On the other side, the production is top notch and their performances as both vocalists and musicians are superb. The stuff can be inferior, but none is bad.

So in the end I found this record to be quite enjoyable despite its faults. Again maybe I was expeting too much. Perhaps they should have waited a little longer for their muse to come up with stronger tunes. Perhaps it´s both. Overall I liked it all, but simply there is nothing like a Lover´s End, nor A Kid Called Panic, much less an epic like The Other Half Of The Sky. Get my point?

Rating: 3,5 stars. Nice, very good, certainly above average. Yet, not the essential Moon Safari.