The Beat Surrender

I’m a massive fan of a a gell of a lot of Scandinavian music and have been as big a champion of that regions musicianship as anyone else. Aside from the obvious Abba stuff that you can’t avoid as a kid, i’ve loved bands and artists like The Wannadies, The Cardigans, Sondre Lerch, Husky Rescue, Sigur Ros and Gus Gus for years (and that is to name just a few).

So I was pretty excited when I got sent the debut solo album from Tuomo, a man who has been renowned as a world class pianist, who has performed keyboard duties with Quintessence, Q-Continuum and Emma Salokoski Ensemble (who helps out here as well).

Although it is very soulful in places and the lyrics are obviouisly very personal to him, unfortunately his voice doesn’t do enough to keep me interested, musically things can be a bit sparse at times as well, I know this is common in a lot of Scandinavian music but it’s usually done with such elegant beauty, which for me is missing here.

It isn’t a disaster, it will appeal to anyone who wants some very laid back singer-songwriter stuff to put on and immerse themselves in the lyrics. My Thing is released in the UK on the 2nd July on CD & LP.