I first saw Teitur (pronounced tie-tor), when he was touring with the Young Troubadours in 2004. I was struck with his soulful, puppy-dog eyed songs, describing perfect, fleeting moments with what I’m sure was an appropriately pretty, waif-like and hipster girl of his fancy.
Stay Under the Stars is pretty much more of the same – actually, a little too much of the same. I found myself drifting into personal fantasies of sleepy Sunday mornings, and the homogeneity of sound wouldn’t startle me out of it for three or four tracks in a row.
It’s incredibly sweet and poetic songwriting, and my fantasies were far more colorful for it. Teitur can always be relied upon to bring up these wonderful heartrending images, but one doesn’t turn to him, say, for an upbeat dance tune. It’s simply not what the windswept Faroe Islands native does.
But he does toss in a few to draw me from my comfortable lethargy – particularly a awesome and slightly bizarre cover of “Great Balls of Fire” which adds slightly seasick string arpeggios, rather than the burning sexuality of Jerry Lee Lewis. Then there’s “I run the Carousel” which is positively headbanging in it’s gritty guitarness, after the restfulness of the other songs. Then the moment passes, and I can return to my daydreaming. After all, according to the title track, he doesn’t want me to wake up, either.
A definite listen, but mood music in the best sense of the word.
A few notes:
TEITUR FULL ALBUM STREAM NOW ONLINE (November 20th, 2006) Teitur’s latest release, Stay Under The Stars , is now available as a full album stream on Altsounds.com’s online radio destination Altsounds.fm. The British folkie’s latest record was released in September 2006 on Equator Records, and is slated for a US release to coincide with a December tour of the East Coast (details below).
For more information on Teitur check out their official website and their Myspace Profile Page.
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