From Iceland — INDIGÓ: TOO LATE TO SHINE

Published December 3, 2004

You hear it sometimes: “If you squint, your friend kind of looks like Tom Cruise.” And you try it, and yes, indeed your large-nosed geeky friend can look like Tom Cruise and you shudder to think that the homely girl he’s dating squints this way during sex.

It doesn’t take that much, but with Indigó, if you don’t pay attention, it sounds like Ryan Adams. And not crappy live or rock Ryan Adams, but the guy who did emotional well-produced and well-played love songs.

Put this cd on during a party, and any friend with any feminine qualities (in Iceland, this is more likely to be a man than a woman, and more likely to be a foreigner than anyone else), will ask the name of the singer. It’s mood music. Music to light candles to.

I can recommend the cd as Iceland’s contribution to the light alt. country movement. Moreover, I can highly recommend an Indigó live show.

However, there is a draw back: don’t listen too closely. While the melodies sound spot on, and the violin and slow chords blend perfectly, the words being sung are not good. Because they are sung so well, and with so much sighing, they draw attention to themselves and, unfortunately, they just don’t have the depth to survive any examination.

The tendency in the songwriting on the album is to repeat key I’m-having-a-deep-moment questions: “Is it too late to shine what’s on your mind?” or “Is there something you have to say this way?” with “way” being drawn out as though it is truly a dagger in the heart.

If you are patient, you will shrug your shoulders and enjoy the protracted chords. Native English speakers might laugh and imagine singing similar lines with such passion in French. But probably most listeners who own the album and enjoyed a first distracted listening will take the cd out of the player, lose it, and pretend they never heard the words.