A wise Doctor once said ‘it’s all about the tunes innit’ and it’s a phrase I often find myself repeating on here, because it’s the biggest proof that genres are largely irrelevant, and actually no matter what style of music you write or who you are, it will probably appeal if you have nice tunes - unless you’re Morrissey obviously. Danish band ‘Cousin’ have cottoned on to this ‘it’s all about the tunes’ malarkey with a soaring and persuasive song entitled ‘Spare', which was released last Friday.
‘Cousin’ are a new name to Nordic Music Review, and of course it is tempting for me to immediately start to categorise them despite my claims it’s mostly irrelevant - I guess they’re a ‘radio friendly’ Indie Pop band that are happy to use quite expansive songwriting to add depth to their melodic intent. So far it’s been pretty successful, with the 4 piece landing some prestigious support slots in the last couple of years, before concentrating now on releasing their debut EP which is due in Spring.
‘Spare’ captured my attention firstly down to the strong melodies that sit at the heart of the track, which blossom within the 1st minute, with pleading vocals that tug emotionally and therefore slowly build up an intensity in the song. At times (and particularly at the end of the song) there’s a glimpse of what the band are capable of instrumentally too, and I’d love to hear some more of that power - as well as that lovely sounding piano which gets a bit lost at times.
This is ‘Spare’:
But as well as their melodies, ‘Spare’ is interesting as it considers the modern social media phenomenon of never being able to hide from things you’ve said and done online previously. As lead singer of ‘Cousin’ Mikkel Werling explains: ”this is a question concerning responsibility in this situation. Should we apologize for not knowing any better when we were younger? Should we be held accountable for something we don’t even remember doing? Can we be forgiven for what we have said?”,
I think they have a valid point, as guess too often young people are not forgiven, and maybe that has contributed to some of the current divisions in modern society.
Still doesn’t explain Morrissey though....