Fairytales/Love Affairs – Bonne Finken (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

Bonne Finken is the sound of two worlds colliding; it’s as simple as that. One world is that of the commercial, radio friendly pop market, the other the hazy world of cultish dream-pop. It’s a neat trick if you can do it. Many have tried, mainly pop starlets aiming for a more mature market feeling the need to add some finer details to their crass commercialism. Bonne succeeds where lesser musical minds fail because the myriad of influences at work here seem more personal, ingrained, part of the package from the start rather than the sprinkles on a pop-popsicle.

The album meanders between chart aiming, bright and brash pop-rock on the one hand and more considered, subtler creations on the other. For me it is in the latter that the more interesting moments happen, the brilliant, minimalism of Isaiah being the perfect example, but that is just my personal tastes. Essentially, what she has created, in conjunction with the likes of Brandon Darner (Imagine Dragons,) Matt Sepanic (Slipknot) and Michael Krompass (Nelly Furtado) is an album where you come for the commerciality and stay for the creativity. Two worlds colliding, maybe but forming a perfect space at the point of impact.