Amanda Jenssen
Hymns for the Haunted

From Sweden with fury, here comes the talented (and beautiful) Amanda Jenssen, a twenty-eight-year-old almost unknown in our latitudes, but a true superstar in her homeland. This "Hymns for the Haunted" is her third studio album and represents a good milestone in a career that started in an unremarkable way (the debut "Killing My Darlings" is cute, but definitely impersonal), but continued with increasing quality: if the previous "Happyland" already marked the departure from the easy pop-soul of her beginnings in favor of jazzier and more theatrical atmospheres, "Hymns for the Haunted" marks the definitive embrace of such theatricality, as well as a somewhat well-defined artistic identity.

Initially, Amanda mimicked Winehouse a bit too much (albeit with a grit unknown to the latter), but by the third album, she seems to have understood who she wants to be musically: while the pop foundation from the debut remains, the soul gets dirtied with rock elements and tinged with dark circus atmospheres, as suggested by the cover. In the end, the result is nothing new or unheard of, but a well-defined overview of the project and Jenssen's energy make it an enjoyable listen, also thanks to smart production that gives the sounds a flavor of authenticity that is far from guaranteed: indeed, it feels like listening to a work recorded entirely live, without excessive polish, making it often sound like a genuinely dusty record from years past. Notably, of all the twelve tracks, there isn't one that sounds like mere filler: "Hymns for the Haunted" flows smoothly from start to finish, with pieces generally at a medium-high level that at times reach notable peaks. In this sense, the decision to keep ballads to a minimum (the beautiful "Illusionist" and "Michael's Garden," true gems of the album) proves successful, focusing instead on decisively up-beat pieces ("Leon," "Boom," "Volcano Swing," "Thunderful Jolene," and the single "Dry My Soul") that occasionally lower the tempo to let the album breathe, giving rise to the choral "Lay Down" and the ethereal "Light and Easy". The dark mood that pervades the entire work finally reaches its peak with the gloomy "The Carnival," which closes the album with a more than fitting finale. In all this, Jenssen's vocal talent shines brilliantly: Amanda, with her dark tone that is at times delicate, at times dirty and scratchy, is indeed a top-quality vocalist, endowed with great control of her abilities, thanks to which her interpretations are always well-balanced and only occasionally over-the-top; not to be underestimated are also her writing skills, since the album is entirely written by her.

In short, the performer is there, the songwriting talent too, and given how it has refined over time, curiosity for the next album will be high, perhaps hoping that Amanda (or whoever for her) decides to take her music beyond Sweden's borders: the capabilities to aspire to bigger numbers and stages are there, it's just up to her to take the necessary step forward to conquer them.