Amiina - Kurr

Just last night we were flicking around an unnamed satellite television provider’s non-descript childrens’ offerings only to stumble upon ‘Bedtime Hour’, a delightful kaleidoscope of colours and soothing melodica to calm the day away and bestow pleasant dreams upon the smallest urchin. It feels like Amiina might have been struggling to find the remote to change the channel and instead ended up immersed in it, as ‘Kurr’ provides music to accompany hazy afternoons.

A gently sombre piano progression plods along to a finish on opener ‘Sogg’ as do many of the tracks within, as the languid, pleasant tinklings advance and you’re two minutes in to ‘Glamur’ before you realise fundamentally nothing has happened, such is the calming nature of the sparse tracks.

To deny that the procession is meticulously planned would be folly, as the tracks trip along with alarming ease, yet despite this there is little to sustain the attention. By the point ‘Kolapot’ takes the floor, the formula has worn very thin and ultimately leaves you unfulfilled. Come the finale, ‘Boga’, the interest has waned and the slight offering does nothing to inject new life in to the fold.

The image on the cover depicts a womens knitting circle, yet we imagine there’s more punch there than throughout ‘Kurr’. Where’s the gossip? The secrets? The swapping of Disney-themed patterns? Tranquility and relaxation have scarcely been so infuriating.