Choir Of Young Believers: Converting Doubters
With camber pop like it’s hard not to believe.
Choir Of Young Believers
This Is For The White In Your Eyes
Released on Aug 18, 2009
Along with their debut LP, Choir Of
Young Believers also delivers several conundrums strewn throughout their
existence. I’m not sure how things work in Denmark, but over
here the words like “Choir” and “Believers” denote more than
one voice; however, Choir Of Young Believers is actually the brainchild
of Danish musician Jannis
Noya Makrigiannis. The only other confusion this album plagued
me with was the disbelief that this music was possible outside of cathedrals.
Following the breakup of his old band,
Lake Placid, in 2006, Jannis relocated to a small Greek island to concentrate
on his solo material. After some time away, he returned to Copenhagen
and began assembling members from the area’s local indie scene, thus
forming Choir Of Young Believers. In 2007, the group put out its
first EP entitled, Burn The Flag. In addition to Jannis,
the group has been know to perform with as few as two members or with
the accompaniment of an entire orchestra, as can be seen here.
In what can only be described as an
orotund sound, This Is For The White In Your Eyes is a powerfully
delivered, near-orchestral work. Filled with moody piano, spooky
strings and Makrigiannis’
ever-present grandiose vocals. The instrumentation on this album
fluctuates between extreme minimalism and colossal, larger-than-life
movements. Makrigiannis’ voice seems to flow effortlessly into the
drone of the strings. His voice becomes less a vehicle for delivering
words and direct meanings, but rather a true instrument itself, leading
the movements in whatever direction it desires and transmitting feelings
in a manner that perhaps transcend words entirely.
One downfall present
on the album is its ever-declining enthusiasm. It begins magnificently
with tracks like “Hollow Talk” and “Next Summer.” “Hollow
Talk” is somber and moody and serves as a terrific introduction to
the album. The track starts a bit slow; if it weren’t for the
inclusion of background vocals and percussion in the second half of
the song, it might have been a bit dreary, but this readiness to explore
ideas beyond the norm is what drives Choir Of Young Believers to be
one of the more inimitable bands out there.
As stated earlier, the bigness and magnificence of this band’s sound sometimes makes the lyrics less profound. However, “Next Summer” is one of the few tracks on the album that breaks away from this assertion. “Next summer I will return, I’ll be back, I’ll break your heart/ Next summer I will return, I’ll be back, you’ll crash and burn,” while most of the songs take an eerie persona if any, “Next Summer” portrays themes of anger, regret and heartbreak.
“Action/Reaction” is another standalone track on the album. More happy-go-lucky than any other songs, it is a nice break from the rest of the dreary lot. However, the band’s decision to use it as their first single seemed a tad misleading. The song was a decent song in it’s own respect, and certainly stood out amongst the other tracks; nonetheless, it really fails to represent what I perceived to be the band’s actual sound. Choir Of Young Believers does a remarkable job creating ghostly, orchestrated pop music, but this just doesn’t fit the bill.
As the album progresses, the music itself slows its progression. The later tracks on the album lack the same charm and gloomy originality as the ones preceding them. Always on the search for a strong finish, I was left feeling slightly betrayed by the weakness exemplified in the album’s concluding tracks. “Claustrophobia” not only left me unsatisfied musically, but was lyrically lacking as well. Moreover, “Yamagata,” the album’s final song, is tired on all accounts. Lyrically deprived, feeble and lackluster, this finale left me wanting, nay, craving what I had been so keen to listen to in the first place. Call it a rookie mistake, or label it laziness, I was disappointed in the latter half of this debut.
High Point
“Next Summer” is the perfect song to sum up this band. It presents Makrigiannis’ shimmering vocals, powerful orchestral accompaniment, and keen song writing skills.
Low Point
While showing great potential throughout, This Is For The White In Your Eyes really dropped the ball near the end.
Posted by Andrew Scott on Nov 17, 2009 @ 7:00 am
