From Iceland — Benni Hemm Hemm

Published July 11, 2008

Benni Hemm Hemm has reached a large number of fans with his brass-laden acoustic pop on his previous two albums. After a successful collaboration project with Swede Jens Lekman, Benni Hemm Hemm now returns with Murta St. Calunga, his third studio album. Overall, arrangements and song writing sound a little more sophisticated than on his last album, Kajak, although not very different. It contains all the innocence and sweetness that is possible to muster from a horn-section and acoustic guitars. Benni’s lyrics are entertaining and his humorous take on political issues on songs like Whaling in the North Atlantic and Avían í Afghanistan is refreshing. This is a very solid Benni Hemm Hemm release, if not entirely original.

• Verdict A solid release, which adds little new to an established catalogue
• Listen/Buy kimi.grapewire.net