Like Patti Smith and Joanna Newsom before her, Swedish songstress Frida Hyvönen is more of a poet than a musician. She’s an adept songwriter with a plunky, almost ragtime-like piano style, but on her sophomore album, Silence is Wild, the words are clearly the stars.
Throughout the album, Hyvönen refuses to conform her prose to her melodies. Instead, she stretches, crams, loosens and tightens songs in order to get everything in. Though this can sometimes sound clunky, it allows Hyvönen to invite listeners into her head. On “My Cousin,” she sings “I’m not the marrying kind, and neither are you/ but still I am absurd enough/ To ask you: if we were the marrying kind would it be my hand you’d ask for?/ Would you be the dad/ Of the children I most likely won’t have?” On “December” she vividly recounts a trip to an abortion clinic by a couple who both know it will be their last act together.
Despite the emphasis on the lyrics, Silence is Wild also represents a significant musical step forward from Hyvönen’s Spartan debut Until Death Comes. Here, she augments her piano compositions with tasteful orchestration on the ballads and a raucous full band when called for, providing her lyrics with a pleasant but never overpowering backdrop.
Post the first comment: (Login or Register)