Oh Land
Oh Land
Release Date: Mar 15, 2011
Genre(s): Pop, Electronic, Pop/Rock, Dance-Pop, Club/Dance, Electro
Record label: Epic
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Album Review: Oh Land by Oh Land
Fairly Good, Based on 4 Critics
Based on rating 7/10
Nanna Øland Fabricius spent her childhood studying ballet, eventually hanging up her pointe shoes for good when a back injury forced her to stop dancing. Looking for another way to let off creative steam, she rechristened herself Oh Land (an Anglicized spelling of her middle name) and turned to music. On her international debut, Oh Land shrugs off the strict rules of ballet and embraces the open-ended world of pop, creating an “anything goes” mix of club, dance, and nocturnal electro-pop.
Based on rating 3.5/5
Oh Land’s self-titled, major-label debut opens with a delicate orchestral flourish, an early indication that we might be in for something more than a bit precious. Given that Oh Land (nom de disc of Danish singer-songwriter Nanna Øland Fabricius) was a trained ballerina before she decided to embark on a music career following a back injury, this shouldn’t come as a surprise. But then the song’s “We Will Rock You” stomp kicks in and it’s clear that Oh Land likes to play with contrast.
Based on rating 5/10
Despite the early promise displayed on introductory single 'Wolf & I', the second full-length from indie songstress Oh Land, is a decidedly middling affair. A massive deal in her native Denmark, while our Brit gals look to orchestral and retro styles to affect the appearance of substance, in the forward-thinking tradition of Scandi-pop Nanna Fabricius' stab at class and credibility involves balancing a platter of voguish electronic tropes, mostly of the post-dubstep ilk. The outcome is pop-cute but tastefully discerning: hip, diverse and always vibrant.
Opinion: Fairly Good
Danish singer is great at borrowing from modern pop, though less so at being herself. Fraser McAlpine 2011 It’s a rogue’s trick to try and brutishly nail together every new female singer to every other female artist in the field of popular song, as if a higher vocal register and lack of testosterone is the hallmark of a shared identity. That said, the musical reference points on this, the re-released second album from Danish songwriter/producer Oh Land aka Nanna Øland Fabricius, stick out as clearly and as densely as the quills on a porcupine, and it doesn’t take a chauvinist to spot that they’re all modern, and they’re all women.
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