Thea & The Wild
Album: Strangers & Lovers
Label: Jansen
Tracks: 11
Website: http://www.theaandthewild.com

Fatea has a reasonably strong following in Scandinavia and consequently we get a reasonable number of releases from the region and as we've reflected in these pages on more than one occasion, there seems to be a real boom in music from right across the region and covering many of the areas we cover, which in my book is always a result.

"Strangers & Lovers" is the debut album from Thea & The Wild, a duo built around multi-instrumentalist songwriter, Thea Glenton Raknes and percussionist Kenneth Ishak, both of whom hail from Norway and both of whom also take a credit for the behind the desk work.

There is a delightfully retro-feel to the album harking back to the likes of Siousxie & The Banshees and the Sugarcubes, majestically catching that post-punk feel and thrusting it deeply into a more pop environment that surrounds it's self with glorious melodies and rhythms.

As with a lot of music from Scandinavia, the lyrics and feel of the material are deeper and often more reflective than their UK counterparts would be, this is not music that is looking for an assault on the single chart, rather an album that knows to be really successful and sustaining, it needs to be an album of substance rather than an ultimately unsatisfying sugar rush seeking a quick hit.

There are also some truly unexpected moments, such as "Roy Orbison", which isn't so much a tribute, but more reflective of an inspiration and "Murderous" which really tackles the subject of dehumanisation, as I mentioned quite a deep subject for a pop album.

"Strangers And Lovers" soundwise at least is a bit on the edge of what we cover these days, but it's hard to hear Thea & The Wild and not acknowledge that she has written some great songs here that are well worthy of recognition from a wider audience and helps drive understanding of why music from Norway and Scandinavia is becoming more influential. This is music for people, not talent shows.

Neil King