CD Review. Norway's Kawaii: If it shines, we have it - By N.L. Belardes

You enter the most perfect of kitchens where utensils are like a shining fairyland of bright silver. The gleam off such knives and spatulas, wire-made stirrers, nut crackers, cleavers and ladles are as whimsical and clean as digitized music with a fine sheen. Enter Kawaii from Bergen, a city between seven mountains on the southern west coast of Norway, with their kitchen-themed debut CD, "If it shines, we have it". A tour of the human experience, "If it shines, we have it" is a CD of short songs with melodic and sexy 1970s-style pop melodies…


Mats Jorgensen and Hedda Fredly

Techno, bossonova drum machine beats turned Indie rock choruses that will melt your heart, Kawaii has the alternative lounge sounds of San Francisco’s Bart Davenport gone duo, techno and happier. Such soft sounds in Indie harmonies, in this case 'girl and boy' melodies, you just fall in love... (Kawaii is currently touring the American East Coast…)

If you’re a fan of Quiet is the New Loud( learn more about the Quiet Movement), then Kawaii’s CD is a must. Let me just take you on a tour of part of the CD…

The very sexy Hedda Fredly has a seductive voice that grabs you right away on track one, “Happy People, Scary Planet”. Her counterpart, Mats Jorgenson is a soft-sounding singer/musician on this track about two people lost in the dark. “We don’t need a light. We’re happy people on a scary planet…” Really the song is a metaphor for wherever happy people can be… with just the right attitude the world’s darkness may be bearable.

“If it shines we surely have it” is a musical melody of love that shines… only Hedda’s melodies are as catchy as the synths and drums… I found myself singing the chorus over and over… it’s that catchy.

One of my favorite songs off the CD drops the ‘F’ bomb. But so what? “They would probably talk, sleep or f***” tells a wonderful little story about a young couple stuck in their own world of love, self adoring behavior, and the inherent conflict of two souls intertwined in the routine of daily life. Oh it could be Norway or Bakersfield, or Paris; this is just the human experience of relationship captured in song.

“Paper Sun” has a synth intro as catchy as any I have heard. Mix that with alternative lounge melodies by Jorgensen and Fredly and some splendid guitar work and you have a nice blend of music to play anywhere. It’s a great long instrumental intro into an artistic blend of lyrics and music with a driving beat.

Acoustic, mellow, and shining. That’s “Best Friends” before it trails into a happy journey carried by Hedda Fredly’s singing, “…we could remain best friends.” She sings it with such a lively aire that I want to find some darling girl to sing such a song to… I love its quaint xylophone ending…

One of the faster songs on Kawaii’s CD is “The concept of being a slightly wounded bear” which is a synth-layered song of many sounds and harmonies. It’s feel is much different than “I wore a smile” which is darkly playful with its explosion of synth sounds in a lovely chorus that is great music to have to bring a mood to your home. Yes, this song is mood-lifting with its passionate driving synth beats and smooth guitar transitions and cosmic-sounding voice delays…

The CD ends with “Hard to Get Sleep” a passionate song that in sadness of relationship suffering sings above the sirens of synths, “I tried to call you for all that its worth…” The droning synth rhythms of the song end the rapturous CD with feelings of an unfinished love affair with the music of Kawaii that is only refreshed by giving the CD a second and third spin…

This entry was posted by N.L. Belardes, on Tuesday, September 13, 2005. You can leave your response.