Ephemera
Air
Ephemera Records

In a perfect world, Ephemera would be stars with their music played on every radio station on the planet with Saddam and George dancing on the table. This is their fourth long player, and with both an Alarm award (the Norwegian Mercury price?) and a Spellemanns award (the Norwegian Grammy?) under their belt for their 2001 release, Balloons And Champagne, things look a bit brighter I guess. But there is another reason for Ephemera to be pleased these days and that is the first single from this album, "Girls keep secrets in the strangest ways". With "hit" written in bold letters all over it, it has gained the band a lot of airplay lately and quite a few new fans.

So, is the rest of the record just as good as "Girls..."? Well, nearly. The three girls in Ephemera are all prolific songwriters with Christine Sandtorv responsible for most of the material on Air. They are moving around in a well known territory musically; we're talking quite light-weight pop music, full of gorgeous harmonies, semi-acoustic arrangements and delicate use of electronics here and there. There are probably thousands of bands out there playing this kind of music, but with their constant focus on good songs, Ephemera have made a solid pop album - again.

Unfortunately, Saddam and George are not going to dance together these days, but it is a wonderful thought though.

Copyright © 2003 Pingo