Review Summary: Crooning from the woods of Oslo.
If Justin Vernon’s voice wasn’t as soulful as it was, would everyone be raving about how good
For Emma, Forever Ago is? If Kristian Matsson’s crooning, Dylan-esque tone wasn’t perfect for folk music would people consider his albums to be some of the best of the past decade? Sure without their voices they are still talented musicians, but with them they are transformed into the indie/folk powerhouses we know today. Lukestar is a relatively unknown band that hails from the Norwegian land of black metal. While their sound is unlike that of a majority of their homeland, they’ve produced three albums of upbeat indie backed by lead singer Truls Heggero’s soulful, high pitched croons.
The entire selling point of Lukestar is Truls voice. For the majority of the album Truls voice is high pitched (easily mistakable for a females) and croons the lyrics over Lukestar’s accompanying upbeat indie pop arrangements. At times he may remind some listeners of Justin Vernon or Jonas Bjerre of Mew but the fact of the matter still stands that without his uniquely soulful voice, Lukestar would probably just be a half interesting instrumental rock band from Norway. Most of Taiga is filled with energetic guitars, drum rolls and the occasional appearance by stringed instruments. This formula thankfully does not make for a boring album, but rather uses Lukestar’s talented musicians to create the perfect song structure for each of the albums ten tracks.
The albums lead track, “Great Bear”, showcases the band’s sound as a whole best with the catchy lead guitar and Truls falsetto vocals. Most of the album’s tracks are kept to a short length which helps add to its replay value. “Flying Canoes” is the album’s lead single and also the albums only song that really lacks its signature indie pop energy. With more of a slow tempo, “Flying Canoes” stands to be the best song on the album with its stringed instruments that do a perfect job complimenting Truls sweet falsetto voice. At the end of the album, one song is absent of the falsetto trademark of Lukestar for a moment. “Palace Road”, the album closer, is the only song to feature
mostly regular vocals from lead singer Truls Heggero. Removing a majority of the drums and leading with an acoustic guitar, Lukestar is able to show versatility in their music by moving away from the high-pitched energetic indie pop they are known so well for.
While
Taiga might not be the most technical and creative indie pop album ever released it’s certainly one of the most interesting one’s you’ll come across. Full of energetic guitar hooks and sweet, angelic vocals similar to those we find in Bon Iver releases, Lukestar’s unique sound is one to be appreciated.
