Rikke Normann (Norway) – Circles (single)

Rikke Normann (Norway) – Circles (single)

First appearance in NMC this year for Rikke Normann, the Queen of Living Room Shows delivered straight into peoples’ homes andwho graced us on several occasions last year with her delightful little ballads.

A common theme in Rikke’s songs is individuality. Standing out from the crowd for all the right reasons.

But on her first release of the year she changes tack to one of “…avoiding the elephant in the room, dancing around issues that ultimately cannot be avoided. Pretending everything’s fine until suddenly you’ve pretended so much for so long, you no longer know each other, or yourself.”

Yep, going round in circles. And I love this theme because it reminds me of Joe Biden’s previous White House Press Secretary, Jen Psaki, who was always chunnering on about “circling back on that question”. In other words she didn’t have a clue what she was talking about.

What has Rikke got in common with Jen? Apart from the colour of their hair, nothing. And she knows precisely what she’s doing.

Observing astutely that “a circle has nowhere to go” the part spoken-part sung piece, embellished with copious strings and her own multiplied voice, puts me again in mind of the style of Regina Spektor. It cleverly changes direction and pace, from a funereal speed early on to a frantic, almost anthemic power ballad at the end, which more than adequately conveys the image of unsuccessfully trying to square her personal circle.

She’s a classy artist who never fails to deliver top quality work.

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Rikkeleaks