Kate Havnevik - Melankton

Music like this has been around a long time. Pretty female vocals accompanied by rich strings and electronics. It is the sort of stuff that would have fit in quite well with the Garden State soundtrack that was so popular several years ago. It is pleasant and inoffensive. Nothing to shock your average mainstream listener, while being just complex enough to gain a sparkling critical response as well.

Imogen Heap is a quick and fairly accurate comparison. Although Heap sounds much more magical and varied than Kate Havnevik is. Bjork, also, is a likely influence on Havnevik. Her voice, however, lacks the quirkiness of Bjork's. Which is definitely a good thing. As great is Bjork is, there is only one Bjork and anyone who tries to do Bjork will doubtlessly fail.

The voice, pleasant as it is, would be quite workable if the accompanying music was anything but yawn inducing. It totally fails to spark anything new or creative. Or, for that matter, anything old and interesting. It just does its thing flatly and without delicacy. There are occasionally interesting sounds like on "Suckerlove," but they are few and far between. All too often they end up getting repeated so frequently during the song that they lose the power they initially had when first introduced.

The worst crime the album commits, however, is in how the songs just don't go anywhere. Great song writing can, and will, overcome any or all of the above complaints. Yet this album seems to subscribe to the cookie-cutter mentality. It is shocking how predictable the flourishes and crescendos are. It is simply not subtle about it at all.

It would not be surprising if this is the future of pop music. The mainstream seems to be tiring of their pop princesses, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. Even the lovable Kelly Clarkson has taken a hit lately. A swing to the more symphonic yet equally color-by-numbers stuff of Kate Havnevik is the perfect direction. Of course, whether she, or someone like her, really does become the heiress remains to be seen. (If so, you read it here first!) In the meantime, Kavnevik remains blandly inoffensive and I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot of her over Barnes & Noble speakers.