Final Rating: 7.2/10
Monica Birkenes made it big with her cover of Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs a few years ago, and this album, Pocketknife, is her eventual debut album. She has finally come around with her second hello to the world. Sure, after being attached to a song written by other musicians, who wouldn’t want to separate their own work from the work of others? Did Orgy ever truly get separated from their cover of Blue Monday? What about Gary Jules and his cover of Mad World? Things are a bit different for Birkenes, however, as she lives in a much more technologically social time. Many people have made their covers heard online, and a number of musicians have been picked up because of their numerous uploads. Birkenes experienced a big break that many dream of, and Pocketknife is her first chance at prolonging her success.
Pocketknife is a very appropriate album name because the album is a nifty little tool you can carry around with you. It won’t take on big and daunting tasks, nor will it prove to be flimsy and otherwise useless. For a first full length album, there are a number of interesting ideas here. The tripping melody in Good Mistake, for instance, hiccups while moving forwards which may catch you off guard and will hook you more into the song’s cogwheels. With similar production choices tossed over the album, Pocketknife definitely works as ear candy. With her breakthrough cover song on the album, Birkenes, known as Mr Little Jeans in the music world, isn’t afraid to show what other artists have influenced her (or seem to have influenced her, anyways). In areas, she will channel other electronic female sirens like Lights and Ellie Goulding. Amongst these comparisons, you may find yourself, too, picking up vocal stylings that will remind you of those of Tegan & Sara, and perhaps Lykke Li as well. Mr Little Jeans may have a sound that resembles who she is, but it sometimes feels like the stories being told are not her own. This is interesting because she does hold songwriting credits on this album. Maybe experience in the field will help shape up her songwriting even more.
The biggest winner on the album has to be the production work, where the bass is deep and the synthetic sounds feel oh so wet. The sounds drip from both sides of your ears while Mr Little Jeans’ voice rests gentle in the middle on top of whatever bass line and/or rhythm she is gripping onto. The mixing is very well done, and is a prime example of how production can make or break an album. Would the album resonate nearly as much without the obsessed fixation behind the album’s quality in sound? It doesn’t seem that way. While it is an album of discovery as to where Mr Little Jeans’ talents lie, it is still one that begs for a hand to hold. Seeing that this electronic sea of sounds worked as the proverbial hand here, she looked for guidance in the right places. In fact, she was also in charge of some of the production on Pocketknife, so it isn’t as if someone else was primarily her own saving grace. She still has a while to discover herself more, of course.
