I Have the Motivation to Be a Free Girl Now

It seems like every couple years Scandinavia imports some pre packaged pop act before they retreat back to the frozen tundra of their homeland such as Roxette, Ace of Base, and Aqua. But Dutch born Laura Jansen is a singer-songwriter right out of the mold of the Lilth Fair. The piano she plays will draw her comparisons to Sara Bareilles, Fiona Apple and Regina Spektor, but Jansen for the most part lacks the snark, edge, or quirkiness of those artist but with a more serene voice.

Jansen’s debut album is pure piano pop. Naturally Bells opens with The End which sets up the album with heartbreak that seeps into many of the songs. This is most notable on the first song off the album Single Girls where Jansen chronicles her newly single life which manages to be heartbreaking and touching at the same time. She even manages to make the Kings of Leon’s Use Somebody a beautifully stripped down song of yearning from a female’s perspective. Many have tried to turn the song into a balled, but no cover has come as good as Jansen’s.

Laura does try to speed things up throughout the album including on Wicked World where she bounces around on her piano while namedropping fairy tale characters but sound a little too much like Bareilles’ own Fairytale. Jansen starts taking more chances near the end of the album like on Elijah where she highlights song percussion and other instruments on the song. And the album closes with the moody Signal which ups the production, including a guitar solo at the end, and even lets go vocally compared to the mainly piano and voice of the pervious tracks. The music may not be there yet, but Laura Jansen has the kind of voice that you can put on and drift away while listening to.

Song to Download – Single Girls

Bells gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.