A step to the side and the Icelander continues to be as unsurprisingly beautiful as you expect on her sixth LP.
On ‘Autumn Sun’ the 36 year-old sings of a fan encroaching on her life and seducing her husband.
“Said she liked my work, I thought she couldn’t do us any harm, he never liked that kind of charm,” announces Torrini in a delicate yet haunting tone.
The song typifies the beautiful acoustic style we’ve come to expect from the singer-songwriter. But where is the bite? Where is the anger?
Much like her past international releases Torrini’s sixth studio album threatens to break her mellifluous mold yet rarely does
The exceptions to this rule come in the form of the opening title track. ‘Tookah’ uses its pop chorus and upbeat synths to engage, while ‘Animal Games’ makes its mark with a striking opening line that only enhances the songs rhythms.
“Your heart is like a dough, you shape it how you want,” sings Torrini. But she is none more so edgy or fierce than on lead single ‘Speed Of The Dark’ where she declares “I want it dangerous”.
However tracks like ‘Blood Red’, ‘Elisabet’ and ‘Caterpillar’ are as similarly stunning as her previous works.
A win for faithful fans this is undoubtedly. But Torrini is doing slightly more than just coasting, even if the boundaries she’s pushing can barely be seen to be moving.
Closer ‘When Fever Breaks’ demonstrates as such. It’s an experimental jam that doesn’t take things far enough and sounds less groundbreaking than it does the singer slightly moving her musical boxes around.
It’s a shame because just as ‘Gun’ proved on Me And Armini when Torrini has attitude things don’t only get good, they get interesting.
A few darker synth textures that edge ever so slightly away from the ones used on previous releases aren’t enough to demonstrate the full extent of her capabilities.
It does however once again fulfill what we already knew. The singer can make affecting records with a desirable consistency.
With six albums under her belt the time is now for Torrini to experiment and show the world she is more than just a singer of beautiful meandering ballads and quirky pop songs.
