The Trouble With Rhonda Harris

• 1Young Girl and a Cowboy03:15
• 2Big Star04:04
• 3Kæmpechok02:47
• 4I Heard You Never Told Her04:49
• 5Avalanche05:16
• 6Fell out of Love02:38
• 7Flatlined06:04
• 8Ingensomhelst03:55
• 9Holiday04:47
• 10In Love with No One03:44
• 11St. John03:50
• Total Runtime45:09

Info for The Trouble With

This is the second album from Danish band Rhonda Harris. „The Trouble With Rhonda Harris," an ethereal little pop album with a mellow, sweet sound. This time around, frontman Nikolaj Nørlund adds a more polished sensibility to his music, as well as the sweet vocals of Lise Westzynthius. As little known as they are in the US, this album is definitely worth hunting down.

The opening track, "Young Girl and a Cowboy," sets the tone for the rest of the album -- sweet, vaguely symphonic and sort of wistful. That sound carries over to the sparkling, trip-hoppy "Kaempechok," plaintive "I Heard You Never Told Her," and mellow little "Avalanche."

But the tone changes slightly just after the start, with the slow acoustic "Big Star." The uneven "Fell Out of Love" is one of the few missteps -- the jerky delivery of the song, and the random-sounding acoustics, just sound weird. But they get back on track with the eerie organ opener of "Flatlined," continuing with the wispy ballads like "Ingensomhelst," and the almost childlike piano-led "Ingensomhelst."

Good indie-pop is hard to come by -- stuff in the vein of the Sundays or Mazzy Star. But Rhonda Harris (who, in this case, is not a person but just the band name) gives their own stamp to their music. It sounds, if anything, more ethereal and less grounded than those bands were.

One of the most striking instruments in "Trouble With Rhonda Harris" is the piano. It wends through "Young Girl and the Cowboy," "Holiday," the hymnlike "St. John," and several others. More typical rock-pop instruments like guitar come into play with "Fell Out of Love," which is led by one hypnotically repeating riff. There are also other flourishes like a tambourine, not to mention a mellow, spacey keyboard that appears in almost every song.

The vocals are a little unusual -- there are two vocalists, both of them good, and sometimes both of them performing in the same song. Nørlund does the male vocals, and he actually has a very good voice, not to mention one that's smooth and quiet. Lise Westzynthius has an even better voice -- sweet, clear and reminiscent of the Sundays' Harriet Wheeler. Sadly, in some songs she only sings backup.

Fans of the Sundays will enjoy the indie-pop sweetness of "Trouble With Rhonda Harris." Though they aren't that well known, Rhonda Harris certainly deserves to be.

Nikolaj Nørlund, vocals, guitar, keyboards
Lise Westzynthius, vocals, piano, keyboards, percussion
Hans Holten Hansen, bass
Piet Breinhehm Bendtsen, drums
Adrian Skovgaard Nielsen, percussion

Recorded in the Sauna and Woodhouse Studios in Copenhagen
Mixed at Tambourine Studios in Malmö
Engineered and mastered by Morten Bue
Produced by Nikolaj Nørlund

Digitally remastered

No biography found.

This album contains no booklet.