Norwegian band SUNDBORN is something of an unknown entity in my book, and their presence of the internet doesn’t reveal too much about this band either. From what I can understand “Point of View” is their debut album though, and it was self released in a very limited edition in July 2013.
I got to know about this production in a somewhat unusual manner. Sometime in the spring of 2013 I bumped into an old colleague of mine at a concert, a guy had worked with back at the start of the millennium. We connected on Facebook, and a few months later he posted that his band was about to release a CD in a very limited edition – 100 copies if I remember correctly – and wanted to know if any of his friends and relations wanted to order a copy. Which I did, out of curiosity just as much as a way of supporting the local music scene. This review is, arguably, an additional bonus, very much depending on whether or not the band likes my amateur write-up obviously.
I find Sundborn to be a band that cover a fair bit of ground on this album, with a firm foundation in what I’d describe as radio friendly pop/rock I guess but also reaching out towards grounds of a somewhat more interesting nature as defined by my own personal taste in music. Key features throughout are slow to midpaced bass and drum foundations, with or without a supplemental guitar layer with more of a subordinate role in the proceedings. The lead vocals are very much in the limelight, the songs are fairly typical verse and chorus based constructions, and tend to be fairly predictable in nature. Quite a few of them creations that sounds like they should have a natural home on just about any mainstream FM radio broadcast with a focus on easy to like, pleasant music.
What sets Sundborn ever so slightly apart is the manner in which they employ the guitars, as light toned, frail and delicate guitar details is a recurring feature throughout. Fairly often in a manner that gives me light associations towards the likes of Chris Rea and Dire Straits, but also with associations towards what have been described as student rock by Norwegian music hacks. I’d place the majority of the compositions somewhere within this triangle, pleasant excursions with a fairly broad overall appeal.
Opening piece Mirror is, arguably, the standout track here. With a slight touch of psychedelia and a mood and sound that probably will inspire many much hacks to go for the indie tag, this is a vital and energetic opening number. Later on No Other and Eternal see the band hitting a vein with a mood and atmosphere that to my mind comes closer to later day Pink Floyd, with more distinct darker toned textures and a subtly more brooding mood that for me adds a nice bit of additional tension to these songs. Rewind Boogie is another fine effort, a smooth take on the boogie based hard rock with well developed bass and guitar details adding vitality to this one, and at last concluding composition Alone revisits a darker atmosphere, now with a slightly harder edge and a sound that for me comes closer to the debut album by Norwegian band Madrugada.
As far as debut albums go, I find Sundborn’s “Point of View” to be somewhat of a roller-coaster ride. Some of the songs are just a tad too predictable for my taste, even if pleasant enough as such, but I won’t deny that for the right audience they will have a strong appeal. The most interesting songs are all of a kind that merits an inspection, nothing that will top any charts anywhere but again music that will have a broad appeal, and one lasting quite a bit longer than your normal hit music fare I suspect. There’s a distinct mid to late 1980’s feel about this production, and if that alongside music that from my point of view comes with subtle associations towards the likes of Chris Rea, Dire Straits and Pink Floyd sounds like something you might enjoy, you should probably take the time to spend a few minutes investigating this band. With luck they may even have a few copies of their CD left for sale.
My rating: 64/100
