With unfortunate irregularity, an artist’s voice will melt together with instrumentation so perfectly that the results leave you clinging to the song, playback set to loop, for weeks on end. Leif Vollebekk’s song, “Northernmost Eva Maria,” from his latest album Inlands, is one such song. Vollebekk’s deep and intimate vocals, with a hint of warm, gentle rasp, layer perfectly with the picked strings and shifting tempos, while his unpretentious rhymes betray a sophistication—literally as well as rhythmically—that few artists seem able to perfect. That this song can be so beautiful, even when describing what seems to be the morning after a one-night stand, is testament to Vollebekk’s expert craftsmanship of lyric and song.
I’m not too happy about my inability to figure out the lyrics of the last line of the third verse, but I can’t let my own imperfections get in the way of this perfect song! Check it out for yourself and let me know what you think!
Midwinter’s eve midweek in October
I saw a churchyard, green stardust blowing all over
And it snowed all over the city
The streetlamps fog so pretty
Snow all over the cityWe were so warm inside
No, she showed she had nothing to hide
By the window, by the bed, there was something said
The morning was a-coming so, so soon
With her orchard breath in bloom
It’s coming so soon, so soonI was standing there at the top of the stairs
You did up your coat
And how should I know
We were going nowhere?
When we said goodbye I saw some look in your eyes
Which was not like (disguise ?) which will be its (own ?)And I’m walking away without turning around
I’m struggling to make it all seem so profound
I must’ve been lost around the time that I found you, Eva…
You can listen to “Northernmost Eva Maria” for free at CBC Radio 3’s New Music Canada, and you can find more music by Leif Vollebekk on iTunes, at CBC Radio 3, at MySpace Music, or on his official website.

If this song doesn’t get your foot tapping, your hands clapping, and your voice at least a little bit sore, you may want to check your pulse.
Just when I thought Constantines couldn’t put together a song more satisfying than “Young Lions,” they prove me wrong by releasing an amazing acoustic version of the tune. Part of their 2009 release Too Slow for Love, featuring seven alternate takes of songs originally released as part of their 2008 album Kensington Heights, the acoustic version of “Young Lions” shines with the same coarse energy as the original, but features a new, more heartfelt tone that complicates the song’s message.

