Regina - Puutarhatrilogia @320

The first album available stateside from Helsinki's Regina, Puutarhatrilogia (which translates to Garden Trilogy) doesn't contain a single decipherable lyric, for us non-Finnish speakers at least, but one doesn't need to understand the trio's native tongue to enjoy their breezy electro-pop. To mention St. Etienne as a touchstone isn't too far off, especially with Regina singer Iisa Pykari's lilting, sultry delivery, just replace the baggy grooves with more of a jazzy shuffle and some surreal detours. During "Tapaa minut aamulla," Pykari's exotic melody seems to borrow equally from Western and Far Eastern scales, eventually leading the light, Balearic-kissed song through a storm of cascading piano keys that come down like a summer rain shower. The same piano wrenches up the tension in the skeletal leftfield house-pop of "Saanko jäädä yöksi?" and helps steer the album towards slightly darker, more mysterious territory which arrives a few tracks later with "Sinun tässä salissa," a song whose sampled sitars and poly-rhythmic pulse recall the Knife on a magic carpet ride. An enjoyably diverse outing, fans of the aforementioned shouldn't hesitate.

-Gerald Hammill





1. Vapaus
2. Tapaa minut aamulla
3. Totuus minusta
4. Terveiset päiväntasaajalta
5. Saanko jäädä yöksi
6. Sain levyt joita et halua kuunnella
7. Tango merellä
8. Olen häviöllä, Pauli
9. Sinun tässä salissa
10.Musta musta puutarha