You just don't see the beauty in anything

Norwegian duo Eva & the Heartmaker have solidified their place in the exciting artists roster with their recent work. Last spring's "Mr. Tokyo" was a charming, fragile introduction to the new electronic-friendly sound of their third album era, but it's with "Signals" that they truly arrived. One of the best singles of the past six months, it's a sweet, infectiously upbeat track with pop-ified Van Halen synths. Stream it here or in the above video.

04 Gone In a Flash by poppostergirl

There's nothing to rival the instant joy of "Signals" on their new album, Dominoes, but that would be a tall order to fill. The great title track has a similarly well-constructed uptempo instrumental but this time with more regretful vocals from singer Eva Skram. It might work better as a whole than the track I'm sharing today, the sashaying "Gone In A Flash," but please forgive my indulgence: "Gone In A Flash" has me fascinated at the moment. Picture male light rock from the '80s sung by a modern girl group that segues into "I Feel Love" before switching back to the '80s for a hard rock guitar solo. All without blinking an eye. It's mildly crazy, except the whole thing is done with such smooth ease that you find yourself thinking "of course, why wouldn't a Norwegian husband-and-wife indie-pop duo meld Hall & Oates, Donna Summer, and Van Halen?" As with the rest of the album, though, even when the group is flirting shamelessly with the '70s and especially the '80s, they make it sound thoroughly modern with their slick arrangements and production.

Edit: one day later, the group has debuted the music video for "Gone In A Flash." Apparently it's the next single!

The third album from Eva & the Heartmaker, Dominoes, can be purchased here (physical). At eight tracks, it's short but sweet.

I would die a million times a day if you could only look my way

A couple of pleasant, female-vocalled songs that fall somewhere in between the sounds of pop and indie-pop and come from familial woman-man duos are the features today. Warning: you may read the word "sweet" a number of times.

Domino Girl by poppostergirl

American brother-sister act Blondfire used to be Astaire of "L-L-Love" semi-fame, though they've been operating under this name for a few years now. "Domino Girl" apparently won't be on their new album, due out this year, which is a shame. Even as a demo, the song, co-written by Richard X and Hannah Robinson, has a more electronic sheen than the other music I've heard that will appear on the album, so I'd like to think it was cut more for not fitting in than for lack of quality. There's something that's the teensiest bit Saint Etienne about it, though that's not really the right comparison; I just (sadly) haven't dabbled enough in this style of music to have the best references. It's less intricately worked out than you'd expect for a Saint Etienne track.

At any rate, "Domino Girl" is a sweetly-sung, unprepossessing mid-tempo song that doesn't swoosh, stomp, or act as brazenly flirty as previous Richard X and Hannah collaborations like Rachel Stevens's "Some Girls" or Annie's "Chewing Gum" or "Songs Remind Me Of You;" it's much more subdued, but there are still sparks of life in the verses, a bit of fight and resistance, before the lovely if quieter chorus, where singer Erica resigns herself to being unable to maintain the aloofness and independence she had earlier. It's not really a jubilant celebration of falling in love, though; there's ambivalence here. The narrator, uncertain if her affections will be returned, is left waiting, hoping to be noticed--"standing in line," no less--and her metaphors tend to verge on the destructive side: she's a knocked-over domino, defeated, run over. Sure, she falls sweetly, with the song certainly not being truly gloomy, but someone's slipped at least a drop or two of something bittersweet into this honey-like pop song.

(Another song penned by the duo, Richard X, and Hannah Robinson, "What Does Love Mean?", is streaming here.)

Eva & The Heartmaker - Mr. Tokyo by RevOliver7

(With thanks to the fantastic Olivier for uploading the song!)

The excellently named Eva & the Heartmaker are a husband and wife team who fell in love after working together. Eva would go on to compete on Norwegian Idol before they released any music, but on "Mr. Tokyo," a single from their upcoming third album, she doesn't sound like what you'd expect from someone with that on their resumé (though, to engage in a tangent, at this point we've had so many Idol contestants around the world pursue so many different types of music after their television appearances that you can't really say being on a reality show means you'll pursue a certain sound).

The duo's music has, in the past, been Cardigans-esque, but "Mr. Tokyo" is much poppier, albeit still with an indie-pop nod or two. It's a bit like if you de-electro-popped an electro-pop song, if that makes any sense. The slight stylistic change of direction is the perfect move for them; their songs have never sounded more instantly appealing, their melodies more instantly charming, Eva's voice more sweetly, earnestly, restrainedly beseeching.

Blondfire's "Domino Girl" is not available for purchase anywhere, but you can buy their earlier work on iTunes here or physically here. Keep an eye out for their new album, Win The Game, later this year.

Eva & the Heartmaker's single "Mr. Tokyo" can be purchased digitally here. Some of their earlier work is available on iTunes internationally here.

In not-really-related news (Norway!), there's a clip of a demo of a new (well. she's performed it live before) song, "No Last Time," on Margaret Berger's MySpace. Maybe it's just the low quality, but it sounds kind of demo-y. She's scheduled to perform at a festival in early July, with rumors of new material making an appearance, so fingers crossed we'll hear more then.