Warm Summer Breezes and Downhill Declines
The album starts off with euphony of synth beats and vocals. “Stardom” takes the listener to a new existence. The song twists and turns like an old country road. With an opening dissonant melody that turns easy on the ears, it slowly opens to vocals. The lyrics describe a breeze which you can almost feel as the easy going melody continues with added synth sounds. Like floating and dancing all at once the next song, “Limerence” comes across the speakers. The song begins with an almost oriental sound and continues into the next song, “Easy Window,” which begins like a call to battle yet mellows out quickly. The second half of the song runs across the speakers like a horse might run across a steppe and ends with an echo and the sound of an exhale.
The vocals return in “Compassion.” The nostalgia has wrapped around the speaker so densely one could almost touch it. The vocals of Hannes Norrvide really stand out in this piece, crisp yet full of reverb they materialize as if he is singing, microphone in hand, right in front of the speaker. Then the longest song on the album begins. At a magnificent seven minutes thirty seconds, “Better Looking Brother” does not feel nearly that long. It has a chill in it like the dead of winter. Although the song is constantly changing, it grows arduous by the five minute mark. Luckily, a catchy melody from the beginning of the song saves it from being skipped. Compassion begins to wrap itself up now, with the beginning of the song “Display.” The most notable part of “Display” was the synth part that sounded almost like a distorted electric cello, a lovely touch. “Tokyo” begins with a trumpet-esque prelude that leads easily into those iconic vocals.
Finally the last song of Compassion, “In Return,” begins. Unfortunately, the slow, pleasing tune does not savor the momentum brought about from the first two songs on the album. Reminiscent of Coldplay’s “Charlie Brown,” the song is in no way a disappointment. It does, however, make you long for the upbeat ecstasy the first two songs “Stardom” and “Limerence” had that made the speaker vibrate. “Stardom” is far and away the stand out song on Compassion. It makes you feel the warm summer breeze and twirling in the sunlight while spinning sentimentality in between. The album is very well put together. The content, however, is slightly lacking and it feels as if the album goes gradually downhill.
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