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Ida Maria - Fortress Around My Heart
| Spin |
| Among this Norwegian pop rocker's many endearing attributes is her total lack of interest in consistently singing pretty. Her debut is full of rasps and howls, from the raw, frenetic power of the U.K. single "Oh My God" to the ballsy bubblegum blast "I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked." The last few notes of "Stella," a torch song from God to a hooker, are so strained they barely make it out of her mouth. Ida Maria throws herself into every song as if it's all a big finale, which makes for an auspicious beginning....full text |
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| Ew |
| The words ''Norwegian ingenue'' call up images of anemic, blond-ified whisper-pop. Instead, on Fortress 'Round My Heart, Ida Maria plays the husky-voiced brunet banshee to the hilt, spinning tales of 43-year-old prostitutes (''Stella'') and drunken benders (''Louie'') with admirably fearless fervor....full text |
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| Pitchfork |
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Ida Maria Sivertsen has a powerful voice that conjures so many classic-rock associations it's a wonder she doesn't get lost amid all the references. On her debut album, Fortress Round My Heart, she howls like Janis Joplin, with a bit of soulful vibrato that almost sounds like grandstanding. She rasps like Courtney Love, similarly steeped in cigarettes and alcohol but without the manic aversion to actually making music. Ida Maria effervesces like Katrina Leskanich-- of Katrina & the Waves fame-- which brings to mind one-hit-wonder pronouncements (but what a hit). Chrissie Hynde is another touchstone, not only for her commanding presence but for her assumed sexual authority as well. And then there's that curious Sting reference in the album title, but let's give her the benefit of the doubt and call it a coincidence. Besides, Ida Maria is singing, not actively imitating anyone. Her performance on Fortress conveys a distinct personality that draws on a range of styles and influences but remains completely her own, whether she's confessing to being falling-down drunk or expressing her reservations about god. She conveys existential anger, sloshed self-doubt, religious whimsy, romantic compulsion, and determined vulnerability all with equal persuasiveness, and by all evidence, she has a blast from start to finish. Backed by a road-hardened band, her songs burst with pop-punk fury and fun, none more violently than the brain-smasher opener "Oh My God". The song begins with tense guitars and Ida Maria's throaty voice defying you to "find a cure for my life," then turns strident on the chorus as if trying to be heard by the deity himself. She stutters and taunts through "Morning Light", stumbles triumphantly through "Queen of the World", and masks darker thoughts and boozier desperation with the fizzy bubblegum exuberance of "Louie" and "I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked". "Keep Me Warm" is the only ballad, but she navigates with just as much confidence, making the song all the more heartbreaking by addressing a cup of coffee and a pack of cigarettes...full text |
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