Midnight Choir - Unsung Heroine

Year of release: 2000

Genre: Folk/Country/Rock/Alternative
Country: Norway

Tracks:
01. Double Blank
02. Electric Rain
03. Where Love Resides
04. Snow In Berlin
05. Empty Streets
06. Violence Of The World
07. She Came From West Virginia
08. Painting By Matisse
09. Unsung Heroine
10. Spiritual (Spain cover)

In a few words:

First of all, Happy New Year to all of you. I hope that you enjoyed yourselves during Christmas vacations. Leaving the holidays behind us, let's talk about music: Unsung Heroine is the album that I was listening to the last few weeks. You may wonder why, but the answer is quite simple: because it is a really beautiful album. Although there are a lot of influences, from Neil Young, till Johnny Cash and Leonard Cohen, the end result has band's personal style. The music could be described as some kind of folk/country or "Americana", but with a rock flavor (similar to Madrugada). The vocals of Paal Flaata are quite deep and emotional, in the vein of Leonard Cohen and Johnny Cash. The instrumentation of the songs is quite good, enhancing their dark and melancholic mood. Take for example the cello on "Snow In Berlin", which gives "extra points" to the song. As the band's name implies you could better listen to this album at night. The only sad thing about Midnight Choir is that they are inactive since 2004. 

Myspace

Official site

Youtube

 
Personal highlights: 

"Double Blank", "Snow In Berlin" and "Unsung Heroine"