Tobias Thomhave’s debut self-titled album follows the path many folk singers have tread before him, and although the Swedish singer doesn’t carve any clear-ways of his own, his brand of acoustic is still pleasant.
Recorded not in his homeland but Switzerland, the album’s aural atmosphere – made up mostly of violins and gentle acoustics – invokes imagery of its birthplace.
You can almost envision Thomhave busking on a cold, snow-capped street corner, his folk yearnings providing a fitting soundtrack to the picturesque scenery.
Thomhave’s history as a lone traveling bar singer is also pertinent throughout; whether that’s made explicitly in his yearning lyrics (“When they forgive me, I’ll be able to forgive myself”), or more implicitly in the omnipresent melancholia embedded into the album’s 10 tracks.
However, listening to the entire album in a single sitting, it becomes difficult to determine when one song finishes and the next begins. With the exception of ‘Eyes Of A Child’ and ‘Humming Of Her Heart’, the rest of the album’s contents aren’t memorable enough to save them from being mindless-yet-pretty background music.
“And the cold strings of the guitar warm the wood into this melody”, Thomhave croons on ‘Humming Of Her Heart’. Here, on the standout track, an echoing, near-silent soundscape is disturbed only by sparse strumming, creating a perfect environment allowing for the vocals to strike emotive chords.
The Swedish singer-songwriter makes an honest, introspective debut. However, its flatness and lack of originality means that listeners only get a mere glimpse of the home in Sweden Thomhave seems to long for, but they’re never taken there.
