Minor Kingdom - My Back Will Bend
2009, Grain Belt Records
Minor Kingdom is the stage name for Minneapolis singer/songwriter Kristian Melon. Minor Kingdon’s debut album, My Back Will Bend, recently hit the streets.
My Back Will Bend opens with the contemplative title track. My Back Will Bend has a plodding, somnolent pace set to an ethereal rock arrangement and vocalist Kristian Melon; who sounds like he's bored with the song. Choir Of The Lilies is an improvement; Melon still sounds kind of like he's going through the motions on vocals, but Haley Bonar sits in on the vocal duet, adding wonderful texture and sound to the chorus. Minor Kingdom shows flashes of life on Perfect, piling on the angst in swirling keyboard parts. Sweet Death returns to a musical wallow of sleepy melancholy, the latter of which bleeds over into Holy. Holy is certainly melancholy in emotional feel, but is perhaps the best songwriting on the album. Minor Kingdom isn't self indulgent in their melancholy here, instead telling a story to music full of inspiration and a quiet awe.
1930's Road Song and Go Slow continue in the uninspired and sad vein, collapsing into Make Me (Invincible). Minor Kingdom pulls a slight turnaround on the last track, Even Water Falls. There's a level of energy and vitality on Even Water Falls that's rarely seen or heard elsewhere on My Back Will Bend. Kristian Melon has a decent enough voice, but he spends much of the album singing as if there were a dozen things he'd rather be doing. My Back Will Bend never really gets off the ground on the basis of this lack of energy. The songwriting is fair, but would excel with a wider range of emotion and affect.
Rating: 1.5 Stars (Out of 5)
You can learn more about Minor Kingdom at www.myspace.com/minorkingdom. You can purchase My Back Will Bend as either a CD or Download from Amazon.com.
2009, Grain Belt Records
Minor Kingdom is the stage name for Minneapolis singer/songwriter Kristian Melon. Minor Kingdon’s debut album, My Back Will Bend, recently hit the streets.
My Back Will Bend opens with the contemplative title track. My Back Will Bend has a plodding, somnolent pace set to an ethereal rock arrangement and vocalist Kristian Melon; who sounds like he's bored with the song. Choir Of The Lilies is an improvement; Melon still sounds kind of like he's going through the motions on vocals, but Haley Bonar sits in on the vocal duet, adding wonderful texture and sound to the chorus. Minor Kingdom shows flashes of life on Perfect, piling on the angst in swirling keyboard parts. Sweet Death returns to a musical wallow of sleepy melancholy, the latter of which bleeds over into Holy. Holy is certainly melancholy in emotional feel, but is perhaps the best songwriting on the album. Minor Kingdom isn't self indulgent in their melancholy here, instead telling a story to music full of inspiration and a quiet awe.
1930's Road Song and Go Slow continue in the uninspired and sad vein, collapsing into Make Me (Invincible). Minor Kingdom pulls a slight turnaround on the last track, Even Water Falls. There's a level of energy and vitality on Even Water Falls that's rarely seen or heard elsewhere on My Back Will Bend. Kristian Melon has a decent enough voice, but he spends much of the album singing as if there were a dozen things he'd rather be doing. My Back Will Bend never really gets off the ground on the basis of this lack of energy. The songwriting is fair, but would excel with a wider range of emotion and affect.
Rating: 1.5 Stars (Out of 5)
You can learn more about Minor Kingdom at www.myspace.com/minorkingdom. You can purchase My Back Will Bend as either a CD or Download from Amazon.com.
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1 comment:
It's Melom.
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