REVIEW: Moa, Universal (Tommy Boy/Spor)
- Tracey Bleile
Hmmm, let's see what we have here...pixie-type from Iceland with unusual looks, a crazy musical hook, and a co-writer/producer/musician "soulmate." Oh, no, wait a minute...it's not who you think, honest! One of the fine new acts to grace these shores from the apparently magic princess-infested country of Iceland is solo artist Moa (with an acute accent over the "o," darn HTML anyway, and *don't* ask me how to pronounce it) and she verges on the same sort of infectiousness as a certain predecessor with her release Universal.
Moa has a voice like Lena Horne inhaling a touch of helium singing cabaret, and the electronica jazz/drum 'n bass that makes up Universal is something you'd find in a dimly-lit nightclub straight out of a Ridley Scott film. If anything, there's not a lot of variance in the beat or song structure, so it's happy techno with a singer or Massive Attack-inspired dreaminess. The foamy synth and programming backdrop is provided by Eythor Arnalds (who was indeed previously in a band with Bjork) and produced by Phil Chill and Brian New (most recently finished work was with Neneh Cherry). Soap-bubble fun and games don't last long, but are very enjoyable in the moment.
Even with the potential to burn out too quickly in what could be perceived as a trend-following album (and at the trailing end of it for that matter), Universal is certainly something you could slip into rotation at just about any place there's dancing, and someone will most surely ask "who *is* this?" And there won't be any mistaking her for anyone else.
