Being a working musician means always being open to new sounds and collaborations. There is no reason to lock yourself into a tiny little box anymore and do everything by yourself. When two seemingly conflicting genres come together it sometimes creates a sort of beautiful cacophony that blends just right to make something better than the sum of its parts. A good example of this is the latest music we came across from Popkissed.
The Oslo, Norway based duo of Popkissed is made up of electronic artist/producer Robert Solheim (better known as Currents) and accomplished vocalist Lill-Ann Blauenfeldt. Both artists had found previous success on solo projects but a chance meeting at a party one hazy night in Norway led to the pair discussing their mutual musical heroes and the common links that they had. The connection was strong and a day in the studio led to several songs being written. A week later the foundation for a full album was almost set.
The final project became the debut album of Popkissed called It’s A Fine Day released earlier this month. The 11 track record manages to highlight each members high level of skill and combine them to make beautiful music. The opener “Cold Wars” shows off Robert’s exceptional ambient beat making and tops it with the sultry voice of Lill-Ann. This dark vibe makes for a song you can picture yourself dancing to in a dark corner of a huge nightclub. The trippy “Tell Me” creates a sleepy lull in the listeners mind as the vocals force you to lay back in an almost paralyzed state of awe. There is much going on here that demands multiple listens. The duo dives back to an earlier time of new wave dance music with “Red Lips”. The synth sounds reminded me of mid 80’s dance rock of bands like Erasure. Toward the end of the album we get the sleepy “Dangerous”. It is a deep soft song with mesmerizing vocals and a chill backbeat that lets you down easy after a full listen. If you are ready to be pinned to your couch for the next 45 minutes go give the record a listen at: http://popkissed.bandcamp.com/
