Album Review: Dagny – 'Strangers Lovers'
Norway’s most exciting pop export Dagny depicts love in all of its wonderous stages on debut album ‘Strangers Lovers’.
Starting the journey with big beats and infectious rhythms, opening track ‘Come Over’ sets the mood for a record brimming with stunning soundscapes reflecting the ups and down of a relationship. But where the first part of the album thrills with soaring choruses and hypnotic beats building into a whirlwind of giddy excitement, like butterflies wreaking havoc in your stomach, a perfect balance of beat-driven melodies and emotive vocals on ‘Moment’ marks a turning point in the narrative. The track is just another version of Schroedinger’s Cat – marking a complete standstill, a scenario with two possible outcomes – “I thought we had a moment,” Dagny sings but does a moment lead to more or does it fade, burn out as quickly as it started? For Dagny, it fades. The groove-infused euphoria of tracks like ‘Coulda Woulda Shoulda’ slowly turn into melancholic rhythms on ‘Please Look At Me’ and hopeful lyricism makes room for the first taste of heartbreak as Dagny pleads: “Can we dance like we used to make love ‘cause I can’t feel your heat anymore.” This tragic twist in her story comes into full effect on ‘Bad At Love’ – a gentle piano ballad that, though short and sweet, leaves the burning aftertaste of sorrow. But ‘Strangers Lovers’ wouldn’t be complete without a good breakup song. With a crying in the club atmosphere of glittering synths and infectious electronica, ‘Bye Bye Baby’ not only serves perfect 80s nostalgia, it’s dripping with new-found confidence and proves that, sometimes, you have to write your own happy ending.
With powerful vocals and the innate ability to replicate complex emotions with sound, Dagny makes music that is one of a kind. Beautifully dramatic and intoxicatingly immersive, ‘Strangers Lovers’ is a debut album to be proud of.
Words by Laura Freyaldenhoven