Long time composer and artist Maini Sorri is set to release her latest album Bring Me Home. The title track from the project introduces things in a bold way, showcasing retro dance synths and a rising intensity, all woven in among a delicately optimistic and uplifting soundscape – with a vocal line that’s as delicate and smooth as you might find in ambient trip-hop. The euro-dance vibe is strong but it comes with a level of heart and depth on this particular single. There’s truth in the songwriting and this adds a lot of value and further intensifies that energizing feeling of possibility.
There’s a strong display of eclecticism on this album, despite several threads that keep the Maini Sorri sound alive. Parting Of Our Way, for example, opens as a heavy metal soundscape, the distortion and high energy and weight of the musicality contrasts quite profoundly with the softness of the vocal delivery. It makes for something now familiar but again cleverly aware of the effectiveness of contrast. The song has elements of both chaos and calm, and the lyrics further this feeling – offering the classic, reflective honesty that is clearly inherent in Sorri’s work. Lyrics by Gary Cornman paint a clear picture and offer a story-line that works well in this setting. The guitar work is brilliant and this, alongside of the melody, quickly comes to create a definite highlight from the album.
I Fall To Pieces emerges as familiar – this heavy, medieval rock intensity pours through, alongside of some lightly haunting, classical-style piano. Then the vocals take centre stage, and it’s another unique melody, perhaps the most interesting yet. The switch to the joyful aura for the hook is unexpected but strangely satisfying in its resolve.
Lost Love follows, and where before there were fragments of an Enya-style sound, this now seems all the more poignant in the opening moments. However, as is the Maini way, the music soon explodes into its own realm of creativity and expression. This track is again a highlight, there’s something extremely passionate and powerful about it. The quickness and the energy, the descending, repeating melody – all of this captivates and fills the room with so much detail and strength.
One of the most instrumentally emotive soundscapes on this album is that on Never Said Goodbye. The opening instrumentation draws a reaction from the offset, the aura is that of deep thought, self reflection, pondering and potential regret. The melody that follows has something beautifully real about it too, and the doubled vocal sound adds further to this sense of soul. As things progress, the musicianship is sensational, each layer and detail thoughtfully placed and passionately performed. The piece has an addictive quality, the shortness of the verse lines, the descending at the end of each line again – all of this is quickly memorable, and the music and details drive the experience in a stylish, skillful way.
The album also comes with a dance remix of Love Lost, an audio journey that reinvents the song and offers a thick and rhythmic version that still holds close to those essential threads of character. This track develops in a refreshing and heavy way, adding an element of now to a generally nostalgic aura, inviting the song and its ideas to be more closely involved in the EDM world. It seems that Maini Sorri’s vocal style is compatible with many different musical outlets and genres. In every case, it’s a compelling sound, and this album is one that offers an eclectic and emotional playlist, with plenty of impressive moments of power.
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