Stine Bramsen - Fiftyseven (Album Review)

Buy Fiftyseven here (UK iTunes)

There are no words that I can find that will do justice to what a radiant performer I think Stine Bramsen is. She's managed to form a fully realised solo career that has you somehow cheering for her individual success yet yearning for a band reunion. Her songs are what my mother would call "gutsy" - full of passion, heart, emotion and soul (which may all sound like the same thing but when you listen to Stine's music you'll hear why and how they are all disparate yet one). It's all sung with the nuanced gusto of a seasoned theatrical trouper and she never fails to take you on a journey that taps into your inner 'feels'. Stirringly magnificent - here's what this stunning debut album holds...

• Prototypical ~ Stine opens the album (quite rightly) where it all began - single number one and her first opportunity to show to the world her musical progression during what I pray is still only an increasingly extended Alphabeat hiatus. What's really clever about the first solo outing is that Stine takes many of the musical elements that Alphabeat were famous for (handclaps, percolating persistent beat, shimmying tambourine style percussion), tosses them in the air and subverts them to ensure that her tune has an air of familiarity to it, yet is still a natural progression from her group style. Prototypical is actually a rollicking pop tune that, in instrumental terms, provides the perfect blank canvas for Stine to paint her expressive vocal brush strokes across to give the tune real heart and personality. The narrative (in the broadest sense) it's about the transformative power of love - about yearning to cast off the cycle of failed relationships she has grown up learning from and embracing the traditional romance. Indeed, when she sings "I used to be so cynical, now I am prototypical", the passion & yearning in her voice says more about love & relations than a thousand cookie cutter ballads ever could. As you get swept up in the delirium of that rousing musical score, you can't help but subscribe to the theories of Stine leaving the listener all sorts of elated by the time the song has ended.
• Cavalry ~ song two on the album feels entirely guttural and tribal in it's conception as Stine sings of a relationship that has left her bereft and aching inside. But with every gut-wrenching low there is of course an exhilarating high and it's quite the emotional rollercoaster we take with Stine as she decides that her man just needs some love and guidance to be the good guy she knows he is. There's an almost mariachi feel to the music that mirrors the title of the song - that militant beat with the backing vocals feeling like they are echoing the supportive cries of those wishing nothing but safety and love as their partners go to war. Pat Benatar very wisely said once that Love Is A Battlefield and Stine has taken that metaphor, run with it and given us the edifying results. When she sings "I'll be his cavalry" it's done with a mix of vulnerability and certainty that tells an entire story on it's own. Such careful and considered songwriting is increasingly rare but powerfully impactful when you happen upon it. Just sensational.
• Move Forward ~ Move Forward is an uplifting, rousing, euphoric anthem that will carry you through your latest internal crisis and beyond. Lyrically it tells a tale we can all relate to - of being knocked down by the cruel ironies of fate but making oh so sure we pick ourselves up again, forge onwards and rise triumphant like a phoenix from the flames. If there is anyone you want in your corner as your own musical motivator, your designated pom pom cheerleader of life then it's Stine Bramsen. Swathed in a gorgeous array of percussive beats, delicious 90s house piano, a rhythmic groove and contemporary synth effects, Our Lady Beat has never sounded so empowered & radiant in her urging for you to be your own champion. Like a preacher on the pulpit, her vocals are inflected with gospel elegance as she infuses the congregation with hope, resilience and a passionate urgency - emotions that she not only conveys with her words but also with that powerhouse singing. All these elements coalesce to make something rather magical with a chorus so indelible it will be permanently scorched into your cerebral cortex.
• Woman ~ is a rousing call to arms to respect yourself, value your inner worth and show the world that you don't need to be anyone else but the fabulous you that's lurking inside. The narrative of the song urges women everywhere to embrace that they don't need to conform to what society expects - work with you got because real is in and fake is out. It's set to a minimal percussive groove during the verses where Stine's layered vocals add an aura of conviction to the words she proclaims, loud and proud. As it cuts to the chorus it's almost like a big reveal - where the satin curtain drops to reveal of wall of sound that washes over you like cold water on a hot summer's day. The hand clap rhythmic grooves and choral backing vocals, alongside those glorious bon temps of wisdom are a sheer wall of sound that invigorate and motivate (all whilst making you get onto your feet, shake those undulating curves and swerves and - if you are anything like me - raise your hands to the sky as if testifying your acceptance of this most wondrous gospel). What elevates the song is a combination of all these elements - the alluring instrumental, the resolution in Stine's impassioned voice, the message of the song. What makes it transcend is that you get the impression Stine is breaking down barriers - that there is WOMAN in all oppressed people because we all carry a piece of those female role models with us. My mother would have been furious if anyone ever made me feel less than I am because I'm gay or because I didn't fit into a certain stereotype. She would have grabbed me by the shoulders, looked me squarely in the eye and told me "I don't take this from anyone because NO-ONE has the right to make you feel less than brilliant". And, even if just for that moment, I would feel brilliant. That is what this song does. In fact it's not just a song - it's an essential public service announcement. A reminder of who we all are. And for that, Stine Bramsen, I thank you sincerely.
• Stormy Seas ~ The intro of this song and opening lyrics feel like it is crying out for a montage of 80s movies clips, so evocative is it's instant impact. In a way it lends itself to being the flipside of the story told in Cavalry. It's about the person who forces you to be the better version of you that you know exists within - and the person that you know will still be there even when you lash out with hurtful words and actions. "You are both my silence and my storm" sings Stine with such unfettered conviction that every memory of relationships the listener has experienced like this comes flooding back with tangible alacrity. The middle 8 only adds to the undeniable power of the song as the music fades away and Stine's spine tingling vocal brings it back like some siren of the sea, majestic and all-knowing.
• Fall Apart ~ clocking in at just under three minutes, Fall Apart is as representative of Stine's philosophy towards music as it is of her actual musical output. It's brevity harkens back to a simpler time when most songs on the radio were usually three minutes or less. Stine knows that she can deliver more actualised compelling and evocative feelings in this amount of time as is needed - without it feeling overbearing or overwrought. The sparse backing track actually works in favour of underscoring the sentiments at play here - the hurt and devastation caused by a lover being less than careful with Stine's heart. You feel every nuanced ounce of anguish she sings at the ramifications that relationship games can cause. It feels like the spiritual precursor to Move Forward - in fact, it's almost a necessity to listen to that song straight after this one so you can have the healing process start. Some songs are written to describe the more sorrowful moments in your life and actually help you by knowing that - just like the song ending - so will the pain. Fall Apart whether you need it for closure, for now or for the future will help the start of the sorrow ending. Sheer poetry.
• Karma Town ~ From those punctuated opening piano chords to the haunting backing vocals through to the persistent groove, Karma Town is the culmination of all these bad experiences and an entirely satisfying musical experience. It's irrepressible charm and buoyant chorus make this feel like the type of song that should be rushing to the top of the charts as Stine imparts her wisdom with a fiery intensity that's all too hard to resist. There's an element of seduction to it too - like she's saying in the most inveigling way possible, "look, learn from what I know and everyone will be better off". She's preaching to the choir here because I'm all about the scripture of Stine...
• You Did Me Wrong ~ Stine certainly hasn't done us wrong with this rhythmic mid-tempo ballad - in fact I'm almost starting to feel guilty about finding such musical integrity and quality in Stine's expressions of pain. Powered by a wonderfully slow shuffle, shoulder shimmy percussive beat that acts as a seductive backdrop for Stine to deliver the melody of the song, it's completely addictive and liberating from the get-go. Stine sounds resigned and matter-of-fact about the experiences she has been through but that has only empowered her to be able to sing about it with such candour and elegance. It's exactly the type of song you need to put on after a hard day of work, loosen your tie, pour a glass of wine and dance the pain away in the privacy of your own living room. It's intimate yet expressive, alluring yet enabling. Let the music wash over you and soothe those troubled waters of the mind. It's the best prescriptive medicine you'll find.
• Ain't Gonna Run ~ When love finds you and you find love it's a completely transformative experience and this song does a rather exquisite job of conveying the bewildering yet exhilarating emotions that come into play. There are jarring piano moments that beguile and intrigue whilst a rapid heartbeat handclap replicates the quickening of pulse that the endorphin rush of love provides. I like the fact that the vocal feels like a religious experience with Stine renouncing her past indiscretions and committing to the relationship. It makes you want to raise your hands to the sky and scream "testify" as you clap along with the fervour of a gospel choir. This makes the music seem like an actual duet partner with Stine, a symbiotic relationship between voice and instrument that's mesmerising. Throughout this album the gospel influences and spot-on scores elevate every moment that you hear through the speakers. PS, this would make an absolutely brilliant single...
• The Day You Leave Me ~ What you get here is a pensive electro-ballad that shimmers with trip hop influences while elegiac strings permeating the production. As the title suggests, it's a song that lyrically sees Stine examining what her emotions would be if the person she's singing to ever walked permanently out the door. It's a fascinating psychological study as it's not clear whether Stine has been given an inkling of this happening or whether she's using it as leverage to get the person to reconsider. Her singing is imbued with a fear and anxiety that's positively palpable and it makes for an electrifying and compelling vocal that dominates the track. There's a resigned inevitability to the music that speaks more to the nature of heartbreak and loss than a thousand emotionally cloying chick-flicks ever could. The score adds to the narrative - that final "you won't hold me" sung with such aching nuance sees the instrumental abruptly fade away, as if the loss happened quickly and brutally despite all the warning signs. It's rare that a pop song (or album for that matter) comes along that is as emotionally yet beautifully accomplished as this.
• Fiftyseven ~ the album closes with the spotlight firmly on Stine as she takes centre stage and gives her most vulnerable yet affecting performance yet. Set to a delicate piano, it's the most theatrical influenced song on the album and wouldn't feel out of place in the TV show Smash. It's fragile and precious, evocative and haunting. It brings the music full circle, stripping away everything because Stine has bared all, given her soul and is leaving you with the quiet stillness that is left. STUNNING.