Strangers and Lovers – Thea and The Wild (Jansen Plateproduksjon) reviewed by Dave Franklin

The Gods of Music seem set to thwart me at every turn. I was recently bemoaning the state of pop music at the moment, its cheap, disposable nature, the production line ethos and the tired, tried and tested to death situation the genre finds itself in. Then, wham… a bolt from the blue, well two actually. First the sultry late night pop-soul tones of Jona Overground hit the doormat and now Thea and The Wild’s debut album “ Strangers and Lovers” is weaving it’s magic around the office. Prove me wrong why don’t you?

I think the art of great pop is to drop other elements into the mix, to strengthen the formula and add a bit of stability enabling the longevity of the music. And if Jona Overground achieve that by infusing late night soul vibes into their music, Thea & the Wild take slick pop and add elements of synth-pop, rock and indie to build it’s musical muscle. The result is a sound that cuts across genre and time. Embracing a warmer, more organic sound one normally associated with an older age and a range of instrumentation that will catch ears well beyond the realm of the pop pundit, Strangers and Lovers may have one eye on the charts, but only one, the other is firmly on making quality music. If pops ideology is built on the short term, the fickle fates of fashion and the disposable nature of the genre then these are throwaway songs that you will want to keep forever.

And that idea is echoed in the lyrics. Lyrics which have depth and ingenuity when examined under the literary microscope but when viewed in the context of the songs fit the music to form a catchy, danceable, groove that will automatically have music’s toughest critics singing along to the choruses. Pop music, it would seem, is back on the menu.