Lenka

Lenka - Let's break it down song by song! Raw reaction:

1. The Show - Adorable, catchy, confusing but I feel like I SHOULD be able to relate, makes me want to go play on a carousel and a swing-set.
2. Bring me Down - Starts off sounding like a 1950s girl band/Imogen Heap - Hide And Seek…then turns into a Disney song. There are parts I like, but the music just doesn't seem to fit what she's saying.
3. Skipalong - This song makes me sleepy. It also reminds me of the Spice Girls whenever she harmonizes.
4. Don't Let Me Fall - I like this, the music is a lot simpler than the last few songs. It also doesn't have the weird juxtaposition of sounding happy and really being sad that she uses a lot.
5. Anything I'm Not - Pretty, melancholy, the words fit the melody well! And then it picks up a little...and we're back to relatively peppy sounds with somewhat existential lyrics.
6. Knock Knock - This song sounds like the opening to a children's show. A children's show about family ties and dealing with being different. A show that only very sensitive children would watch, hosted on PBS.
7. Dangerous And Sweet - I have no reaction to this song, other than the urge to skip it. It's of medium/med-slow tempo. There is maybe one key change. MAYBE. I couldn't concentrate on it. It's very repetitive.
8. Trouble Is A Friend - Have you ever played the Nintendo DS game WarioWare? The song is eerily similar to the theme song of one of the characters, Ashley. It's spooky and dark, but cutesy.
9. Live Like You're Dying - Oooh, melancholy! Depressing lyrics! Existential! Aaaand the melody starts to pick up. And she tells us there's hope. I'm beginning to sense a definite formula here. This song makes me lose interest fast.
10. Like A Song - My goodness. My oh my. Sorry, but this song has the same tempo and is written in the same key as the bewitching song in 1993 children's classic movie Hocus Pocus. Fortunately for Lenka, it's BEAUTIFUL. I adore this song.
11. We Will Not Grow Old - This is not the song I would have ended on. It sounds a lot like the other songs. It's nice that the lyrics seem pretty happy and the music is happy...but track 10 still seems like a better choice to end on. This sounds like the finale in a musical. Not necessarily what I'm looking for in an album.

It's like she only has one emotion, and that emotion is "cute." Now, I'm well aware that cute isn't exactly an emotion…but I don't think Lenka knows that. So I suggest giving tracks 1, 3 [kinda], 4, and 10 a good listen. The rest are only so-so.