Confessionsrelease date: Oct. 21, 2016
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,08]
producer: recorded by Saskia Coolen
label: Nonesuch Records - nationality: USA / Faroe Islands, Denmark
Track highlights: 1. "Describe You" - 4. "Small Spaces" - 7. "Nowheresville" - 8. "Coffee Expert" - 11. "Love Hits You Where It Hurts" - 14. "Time to Dry"
Collaboration album by classical American composer & conductor Nico Muhly and folk pop singer / songwriter Teitur of the Faroe Islands. The album appears to be recorded on the spot with Muhly as conductor of Holland Baroque Society Orchestra at Muziekcentrum Frits Philips, Eindhoven in The Netherlands. The two main collaborators are both credited as musical composers with Teitur as songwriter and vocalist, and most of the songs have been written especially for this album consisting of 14 compositions with a total running time at just below 48 minutes. The song "If You Wait" from Teitur's Story Music (2013) has been re-arranged and is here listed as "If You Wait a Little Longer" (track #10).
Musically, this is on the border of popular music touching on classical, or simply a neo-classical project. Teitur sings in his usual melancholic style accompanied by a full orchestra with bold focus on strings. Most but not all compositions are with lyrics but still Teitur and Muhly share composer credits on all tracks, and it's not really surprising to find Teitur in this unusual territory. He has often made use of strings and composed music of 'chamber pop' and most recently he has been experimenting with other styles, most noteworthy heard on Story Music, and now in another field here with Muhly.
Other artists have made attempts of transgressing the borders between popular music and the classical sphere - most often without much success, and Confessions is yet another example of pitfalls in that category. To me, it ressembles Elvis Costello's attempt with The Juliet Letters (1993) with The Brodsky Quartet in the way that the vocalist (from the popular culture) seems determined to continue his singing style only accompanied by classical music, and in that respect I find that Teitur fulfills his job better than Costello managed, although Costello and The Brodsky Quartet actually was met by some acclaim and eventually went on a tour to promote the album, which again was seen as an artistic and commercial success. I don't think Muhly and Teitur will be greeted with the same kind of open arms for their initative. They are simply not as famous as their British collegue, but their project does overshine the aforementioned collaboration by being more daring, or perhaps Teitur's singing style simply fits the chamber pop universe better. Anyhow, I'm not a fan of this regardless the momentarily fine moments they do produce with their colliding spheres. I know absolutely nothing about Nico Muhly and only sought the album out because of Teitur's presence, and in his discography the album falls in the lower part as his so far second least favourable album to date.
