Dark and moody pop (Love In The Time Of Science - Emiliana Torrini)

Member Name: glitter_princess

Product:	Love In The Time Of Science - Emiliana Torrini
Date:	03/12/08 (90 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Slightly dark and twisted lyrics; moody beats

Disadvantages: Hadn't yet found her real sound

Emiliana Torrini is a voice that may be familiar to those who saw Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, as she sang the haunting Gollum's Song which accompanied the closing credits. However, she is a name that still appears to be largely unknown in the UK. Torrini is from Iceland and the trip hop influence on this album, combined with her Icelandic accent, have led to the inevitable comparisons with Bjork. But like most of my favourite female singer-songwriters, she is not so easy to compare or classify. Emiliana's style is softer and less experimental than Bjork, and more accessible on first listen.

Love in the Time of Science was released in 1999, a considerable length of time before she recorded Gollum's song, and the difference in styles is quite stark. Where Gollum's Song, and her later album Fisherman's Woman, use a more rustic, folk sound, Love in the Time of Science uses a dark trip hop influenced, light electronica sound to accompany her voice. Her voice itself is lovely, sweet, warm, soft, haunting and almost childlike and works really well as a contrast against the electronic beats and her sometimes quite macabre lyrics. "Wednesday's Child", "Telepathy" and "Fingertips" all use this dark element in the sound to great effect, combining with dark and surreal lyrics like "I keep my daughter in a jar, she can't get out she won't go far"!

However, the album as a whole is more driven by her laid back pop ballads. "Unemployed in Summertime" captures the feel of lazing about on Primrose Hill on a summer's day, while "Easy" is the perfect chill out ballad. But it's the album's closing tracks that really make this record beautiful - "Tuna Fish" is one of the album's stand out tracks, with sparse beats and eerie vocals. "Summerbreeze" and "Sea People" are both beautiful, delicate ballads and make the perfect close to the album. This is the perfect album to put on when you're wound up and need a bit of relaxation - her voice just has that laid back, haunting quality that just instantly takes my blood pressure down a good few levels.

The album was produced by Roland Orzabal of Tears for Fears, and you can really hear that influence here strongly - the dark electronic sounds combined with a poppy vocal. While I do love this album, I find her later album, Fisherman's Woman, where she built on the eerie folk sound she used for Gollum's Song, to be where she truly found 'her' sound, rather than using influences from others.

Summary: Icelandic pop/trip hop