Villa Nah

When reviewing a Scandinavian band that has broken the rest of Europe, the temptation is always to compare them with fellow successes The Cardigans and Carpark North…….well, I’m afraid this will be no different.

Villa Nah are a Finnish synth pop group that have out sold Gorrilaz ‘Plastic Beach’ in the charts and are now entering further markets with their debut album ‘Origin’. The album rings the already played out 80’s reincarnation with its use of synth, drum machine, vocals and well, lack of anything else.

The album, despite it clearly being layered with many sounds and backdrops, comes across as shallow as a 6 year olds paddling pond. It’s this lack of depth that makes it difficult to distinguish one track over the next, with the vocals plodding along without any real melody to hook you in. It's also glaringly obvious that the musicianship is entirely focused on one sound and that deriving from this would possibly make the album 'uncohesive'.

The puzzling thing about this record is who and what it is being aimed at. It’s not rough or edgy enough to gather an indy following, yet it’s not poppy or infectious enough to be thrown onto your local club’s dance floor. There are hints of Stefy and (you were waiting for it) Carpark North here, but nothing that remotely comes close to either bands highlights.

This album is a struggle, even for fans of the rejuvinated synth scene. Barring a couple of interesting structures, the album is nothing to get too excited about.