Killing Mood Just Another Love Song
by Alissa Ordabai
Staff Writer
Killing Mood is a project by Swedish – Australian singer / songwriter Belinda Kordic and her band who modestly describe their style as pop and country on their MySpace page, but in fact present a finely wrought, singular mixture of retro 1920s pop, 1970s disco, folk, and only occasionally lean into the direction of light-footed country.
Airy and crisp acoustic guitar provides an intro to practically every song on this record, but this is not the only routine that the band chooses to stick to on this album. Most of these songs have more in common – a shadowy atmosphere of graceful, eerie elegance – something which Belinda is an expert at creating with her stark, transparent voice standing out against the spare, uncluttered production.
But the record’s charm is not only in execution but in the material itself. Those are simple songs with simple melodies, a black-and-white world which is deliberately not interested in vivid colours, somehow managing to appear ever more convincing for it. To anyone who would say that the lack of emotional latitude on this record is its shortcoming, one could retort that self-restraint is probably the hardest thing to achieve these days in pop.
The standout “Killing You” is one track which proves that self-imposed discipline pays off in full when it serves as a platform for deeper emotional extrapolations. After going through the familiar motions, it suddenly takes off the ground and starts to levitate, expanding the band’s habitual routine and showing off how magically Belinda’s voice can float in its end-of-60s Haight-Ashbury psychedelic mode, supported by the spare acoustic guitar and barely audible percussion.
“Orbit” is another such highlight, this time married to a pop beat and toying with exploring a grander, more epic feel, at once ambitious and irresistible in its kooky charm. Delivering both diversity and the necessary escape from the very familiar modus operandi, it shows that there is more to this band than the painstakingly crafted atmosphere of private moods and fixations.
Label: GMR Music Group
Track Listing:
1. Dancing with the Damned
2. Still
3. The Urge
4. Devil’s Robe
5. If I Could
6. Love Burns
7. It’s You Again
8. Strange Fruit
9. Killing You
10. Orbit
11. Road to Nowhere
12. Ramblin’ Man
Hardrock Haven rating: 6.5/10