These Finnish ladies may not be that well known in England but at home they have been well and truly prolific raking up an impressive 17 singles, lots of music videos and six albums including this one. They supported Nightwish on their Scandinavian tour of 2007 and showed their versatility by translating their songs from Finnish to English for the occasion Tuomas Holopainen also produced an album and Indica accompanied Nightwish on tour a second time, obviously getting their seal of approval. This is an all female band led by singer and violinist Jonsu who has been composing simple symphonies since before she even went to school (don’t you just hate child prodigies). The girls all grew up on a diet of classical music and one thing you could never accuse them of being is a manufactured band!
I have never heard Indica before and new album ‘A Way Away’ is a perfect introduction as it includes some English versions of older songs. My first impression of these songs is that many of them are ‘sweet.’ That may have some of you switching off but the melodies and vocals behind them can only be described in that way and they definitely bring out the softy in me. The band would never really be called ‘metal’ anyway but more of a pop rock group, the nearest comparison I might bestow upon them is Octavia lite but that is no bad thing as their song-craft wins over and quickly shines through.
‘Islands Of Light’ starts with Nightwish orchestral pomp but this is a completely different entity in the whole and they sing carefree and simple songs that are instantly recognisable and hooky from only the second listen. Singer Jonsu has a very distinct voice, I get the impression of a Disney chipmunk for some reason or perhaps a pixie or elf, it’s all very gentle and beseeching. ‘Precious Dark’ envelopes like a fairy tale both lyrically and as it sparkles and shines its way into a chorus which is airy, light and commercial. This could certainly chill out a naughty kid and calm it down; hell it’s done the job on me. ‘Children Of Frost’ kind of makes me melt, I don’t have the chance to use the word ‘beautiful’ in describing much of the music I listen to but it really is and again it strikes as much a nursery rhyme as anything else. ‘Lilja’s Lament’ is certainly full of sorrow and the vocals (I’m reminded a bit of Bjork) are allowed to hit the heights above the acoustic and gentle instrumentation, it’s a real heart melting number and so far each song has been completely different, all having their own identity. That wont change with the next one either, if a number here were released as a single it would in my book be ‘In Passing’ with the ‘la la’ vocal lines and summery sounding melody. It is no surprise to look and see that it was both single and video and I will be going to find the latter after finishing the review. ‘Scissors, Paper, Rock’ gets a bit of oomph driving it along and breaks gentle sweat even if there is again an obvious feel of childhood and innocence behind the lyrics.
Before this review turns into a track by track one (there are four left and a bit of mystery is important) I think it’s fair to say this has been an unexpected treat. I probably shouldn’t really admit to even liking it, it’s one of those guilty pleasures and one you wouldn’t even perhaps expect to crop up on a predominantly metal label. Beguiling, gorgeous and breath of fresh fragrant air, although this is a way away from most of the stuff I listen to it’s a way I will be happily listening to again and again.
http://www.indica-music.com
http://www.myspace.com/theindicaband
