From Iceland — Þóra Björk

Published October 29, 2009

I Am a Tree Now, the debut album of singer Þóra Björk, makes a rather valiant attempt to uphold the ‘alt’ end of the ‘alt.pop’ niche, but unfortunately falls somewhat short of the mark it is obviously attempting to reach.
This obviousness is part of the problem. It is apparent that musically I Am a Tree Now is trying to be something, while if it had been left to organically take shape, it could have come out much more natural sounding—less put on. The lyrics are basically just going through the motions of the tested love/boys/uncertainty formula, and she relies on a lot of repetition and a whole lot of dúdúdú-ing to bulk out the songs.
The sound of the music is light and uncomplicated, and although she sings tunefully, she doesn’t seem to put her heart and soul into it. This is unfortunate, as a bit of emotion could do to drag the album out of mediocrity.