Amber Arcades
European Heartbreak
Release Date: Sep 28, 2018
Genre(s): Pop/Rock
Record label: Heavenly
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Album Review: European Heartbreak by Amber Arcades
Very Good, Based on 5 Critics
Based on rating 4
Given the current political climate in the United Kingdom, it’s impossible to see Amber Arcades‘ second album without using the prism of Brexit. Most of these songs gathered on European Heartbreak are songs about a break-up, but that big black cloud on the continental horizon certainly gives titles like Goodnight Europe and Oh My Love What Have We Done a new, more political twist. There’s definitely a more polished feel to Annelotte de Graaf’s follow up to her debut Fading Lines – the reverb and drone elements of her first album have been replaced by wistful trumpets and a more languid, relaxed feel.
Based on rating 6/10
After fulfilling her life's dream and making an album, which she did in Brooklyn with Ben Greenberg of the Men, Annelotte De Graaf was faced with making a second record. The first Amber Arcades record, Fading Lines, was an unassumingly good modern dream pop record that balanced De Graaf's plain-spoken vocals and melancholy nature against a gentle backdrop of drowsy guitars and dreamy melodies. European Heartbreak takes a different tack entirely.
Based on rating 3/5
Dutch-born musician Annelotte De Graaf is having some issues with Europe. That much is clear from a stand-out track from Amber Arcades‘ second album 'European Heartbreak', the appropriately titled 'Goodnight Europe' which feels like a break-up song of sorts. "Europe, it's not you, I'm starting to think it could be me, my left ideals and university degree…" she croons, over a simple, slow-patter of a guitar line.
Opinion: Excellent
Annelotte De Graaf came to our attention back in 2016, before that thing, for her 'woozy pop'. Since then, an EP, 'Cannonball', and extensive touring programme have followed, which have transformed her project into something markedly slicker and more lucid, with an ear for beautiful melodies. Case in point: the last bit of 'Self-Portait In A Car At Night'.
Opinion: Excellent
C ould there possibly be such a thing as a post-Brexit album before Britain has left the EU? European Heartbreak certainly has an elegiac, mournful feel as it casts an eye over the state of the continent and the union. The song Goodnight Europe even tackles the rise of populism and rightwing resurgence that has become a feature of more countries than the UK. Nobody is spared blame, even the singer herself.
'European Heartbreak'
is available now