RetroPop: Pieni ja ihmeellinen

Tuomo writes: One thing I love about travelling abroad is coming across music you wouldn't otherwise. Finnish pop music is popular... well, in Finland, so whenever I go visit my parents, I have the radio and tv on to catch a hit or two.

In April, I came across this clip by a new group (well, at least to me; they may have been around a while...) called RetroPop. I liked the le petit prince-esque visuals as well as the song, Pieni ja ihmeellinen itself ("Small and amazing"). The soundscape took me back to the early 80s, the era of Neo-Romantics, and the lyrics were delightfully angstridden. The Neo-Romantics were all obsessed by technology taking over our emotions; Pieni ja ihmeellinen is all about taking care of our "small and amazing" planet:



My brother recently returned from Finland, and I had asked him to bring me the album because when I was in Finland, it nor the single (!) hadn't been released yet. I still love the lush and Neo-Romantic soundscape of the hit single. The rest of the album has unfortunately been a bit of a disappointment: underneath the 80s soundscape lies more teenage angstscape (is that even a word?) - defying authorities and coping with peer pressure - than a 42 year old man can stomach at one listening.

I wonder if I should be learning something from this... :-)