PORNOPOP: AND THE SLOW SONGS ABOUT DEAD CALM IN YOUR HANDS

Remember Pornopop? No? Well, don’t worry because most people had totally forgotten about the band…if they even knew about it in the first place.
It’s been 7 years since it’s first album, ‘Blue’, saw the light of day and despite some great reviews, the public failed to take notice as often is the case with experimental artists. After being largely anonymous since, Pornopop finally returns with an album that surpasses it’s own adventurous debut. Sure, it’s title may sound a bit pretentious but at the same time gives the listener a quite clear view of what he’s about to hear over the next 40 minutes or so.
Pornopop is led by 2 brothers, Pétur Jóhann Einarsson and Ágúst Arnar Einarsson, along with producer Arnar Helgi Aðalsteinsson, who must take huge credit for his tasteful arrangements. The electronics blend perfectly with the acoustic instruments, creating an ambience that’s hauntingly beautiful at the best of times – and there are plenty of those here. The album also has no obvious lows although it does drift a bit off after reaching it’s climax during tracks 5 and 6, titled ‘Sleep’ and ‘It Doesn’t Mean a Thing’ respectively. The song that then follows, ‘Little Kafka’, could possibly be seen as the album’s weekest moment, mainly because of the vocal-effect, which adds little to it. Elsewhere, Pornopop stick to using Pétur Jóhann’s soft, natural voice to much better effect and he is also accompanied by a female vocalist on yet another of the album’s high-points, titled ‘Centre’.
As stated earlier, this album is superior to it’s predecessor even though Pornopop’s wall of sound isn’t quite as thick as it used to be. Here, the band chooses to focus on matters more delicate and end up with an album that could either be described as gracefully quiet or quietly graceful…you decide. After hiding in the shadows for so long, Pornopop have sneaked in through the back-door to deliver one of the most memorable Icelandic albums of 2004.