An alluring and emotive pop charm emanates throughout Thinning Ice, a fantastic new album from Edinburgh-based singer-songwriter Aino Elina. Following up the acclaimed album Kite, which earned ample airplay on BBC Scotland, Thinning Ice continues to dazzle in its range of dreamy contemplation and dancefloor-ready invigoration. Both albums are consuming listening experiences from Elina, who is originally from Lapland, Finland.
The album’s opening title track consumes in its emotive, atmospheric drive. “I feel like staying up inside all night,” Elina’s vocals let out amidst thumping rhythms and moody synth pulses. This initially introspective sound expands with satiating impact, arriving into a riveting plea to “run from the city light” as bouncy rhythms and vibrant vocals converge — aesthetically reminiscent of a cross between Erasure and Röyksopp. The ensuing “That Summer” struts a more vibrant, daytime setting — gripping in the “summer plays on and on” magnetic hook, which straddles effervescent vocal retrospection with a consuming synth-pop radiance.
Another replay-inducing success arises within “I Give In.” Gentle piano pulses complement lyricism that contemplates looking “over the edge” and continuing to ignore one’s feelings; the heady thematic ruminations on self-honesty envelop into the “surrender on the dancefloor … I always want more” sense of insatiability, crafting a fantastic hook that develops from a quaint piano-led build into a passionate pop illumination. The album impresses with its songwriting from start to finish, which on the concluding “Kohtalo” grooves in its lush synth grooves and layered vocal precision. Thinning Ice represents a thorough success from Aino Elina.
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“Thinning Ice” and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Emerging Singles’ Spotify playlist.
We discovered this release via MusoSoup.
