We'll start the week by heading in the direction of an artist who's quickly becoming an 'old favourite' in Nordic Music Review, even though he's still only released a handful of tracks and a couple of months away from his debut album.
'Lac Belot' is the project of Finnish musician Jarno Takkumäki, and regular readers will remember that we featured him fairly recently after his release of 'D'N'A', seemingly years after we first wrote about his lovely debut track 'Elizabeth'. And it's clear that he's used the time away to good effect, because his songwriting has matured even further, and his new releases are full blown weighty compositions with complex string arrangements thrown into the mix too.
So his new single is called 'Cry Baby', and I have a feeling that every time we write about 'Lac Belot' we'll feel obliged to make the same point about his vocals, because it's his warm, reassuring and unique tone that is central to the success of his music. 'Cry Baby' itself is a soft and melancholic track, which meanders gently accompanied by a thoughtful and not overplayed string section, and at over 5 minutes it never feels that it is 'throwaway pop' either - it's a substantial track with a complexity that demands multiple listens.
'Cry Baby' was released about a week ago:
'Lac Belot's' debut album ‘Abracadabra’ will be released through the ever excellent Solina Records on 28th September: