One of the promising young stars of the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 released their debut album on Friday. Finland’s Softengine achieved their country’s best result in 8 years with their anthemic “Something Better” and their first release acts as a statement to show that their success was not a fluke; Softengine might just be one of the most exciting acts to emerge from Eurovision in many years.
Right from the beginning the young band keep the energy running high – intro “Our New Age” and its follow-up track “Broken Reflection” is perhaps the closest Softengine get to replicating their Eurovision entry, but this is not necessarily a bad thing. Other moments on the album, such as singles “Yellow House”, “The Sirens” and album track “In Dissaray” showcase the many influences the band take, with electronic synths and high-energy pop music both taking precedence in many of their songs.
In fact, with such an accomplished album the band have even shown themselves to surprise and amuse fans in great quantities. To this listener some songs had a distinctly high-tempo and poppy sound almost reminiscent of K-pop – almost out of place in a Finnish product. This does the record no disservice of course, although at times they may stray slightly too far from the formula that found them success at Eurovision.
“Something Better” and the two singles do remain highlights of “We Created The World”, but there is enough variety here to provide enjoyment for any Eurovision fan. The band find themselves taking a softer, playful approach on “Phone Call from Unknown” which may be appreciated by those who were not a fan of “Something Better”, whereas on the other end of the spectrum songs like “In Dissaray” take the band to surprising new areas.
Regardless of the inconsistency of the band with sticking to one genre, “We Created The World” is altogether more polished and interesting that a lot of the usual post-Eurovision material, and with a growing fanbase across Finland and Europe, hopefully the band will be a true success story for the contest in years to come.
Rating: 4/5
Listen to “The Sirens” below;
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