Hey Harmony

Thomas Hansen aka St Thomas wonders whether maybe he should have been a rap artist. Watching 8 Mile recently, he couldn't help but be reminded of his childhood in a working class suburb of Oslo. It might seem faintly ridiculous to the more cynical that a 26 year old former postman from Norway, who also played football for one of Norway's leading football team's junior and reserve sides, might see himself as a potential Eminem, but no more so than the idea that he might see himself as the missing link between country music, Norwegian folk and pop.

And we say our cowboy loving Scandinavian is a sinner running away to find redemption in the cinematic wild west. He has the soul of an ageing cowboy and the inquisitiveness of an irresponsible teen. His songs wrap subtle Norwegian melodies in warm Nashville chords and new-fangled keyboards, a sweet simplicity fighting against his depressive tendencies, the on-the-road fantasies masking his confining reality.

These are great pop tunes, adorned by a delicate falsetto recalling Neil Young at his most affecting and Morten Harket at his most comforting. A Long Long Time, with its wheezy melodica and gentle pop rhythm, questions the personal cost of freedom. Everything Was Up For Romance has fingers slipping lustily over an acoustic guitar as Hansen sings about a cowgirl at a dance, imbuing an innocent moment with significance.

The sugary melodies are too gentle to provide a rush, but the keyboard swirls tie the country genre in uncomfortable knots. It's the numbness of Institution, however, that bursts the John Wayne bubble. Crickets scream, two children are abandoned by their parents and Hansen reveals life beyond the lens.