Teitur – The Singer

Teitur has a lovely voice, somewhere between Andrew Bird, Rufus Wainwright and the guy from the Decemberists. He’s from the Faroe Islands and has that Northern Europe mystique to him. This is his first UK album but numerous others have appeared back home on his own label, sung in his native tongue.
The title track (or Act I as he prefers to number them) starts things off, just minimal wobbly backing and Teitur singing beautifully in his amazing voice about doing what he does. Your Great Book has a clicking beat, some mysterious noises and Teitur chirruping away contently, you could say that there’s an element of Fleet Foxes bliss to this one. The Girl I Don’t Know is Teitur is some brass and a desolate place while Catherine The Waitress has a bit more verve, he still sounds sad, but a little more hopeful now. It’s on this song you’re getting the impression that Teitur has taken in a lot of recent influences, or is maybe coming from the same spiritual place, and therefore making music with a similar feel to Bon Iver and the aforementioned Fleet Foxes. If he gets mentioned in the right places he’ll do well. Back to the songs, We Still Drink The Same Water brings things back down to a funereal pace, its solemn feel not detracting from how great the song is. Guilt By Association is reminiscent of one of Andrew Bird’s more disjointed tunes, deep strings evoke mystery, broken lyrics skip by, with sparse percussion punctuating things. Legendary Afterparty is another showcase for his voice. I love the way the music does the absolute minimum it has to, and he sings almost a capella. Don’t Let Me Fall In Love With You follows a similar formula. Its despairing and affecting, you can’t help being moved just by the power of his voice, especially when it is clutter free.

The Singer is released on A&G Records on February 16th
Teitur myspace is here