Architecture in Helsinki
In Case We Die
(Bar/None)

This Australian group seems dead set on capturing within their songs the essense of an innocent childhood. Each song seems to build upon the beauty of purity, right up until the final track. To get a feel for what Architecture in Helsinki sounds like, imagine if Arcade Fire and The Unicorns teamed up to write songs for children. Their unique take on music incorporates a wide variety of instruments and some inventive songwriting. The fact that each song has its own indivudual sound was a very pleasant surprise to me. Too often I’ll listen to a band that sounds like they wrote one or two good songs and then tried to copy off of themselves.

As far as picking singles goes, the fine folks at Bar/None really had their work cut out for them. I can’t imagine trying to select one song off this album to act as an example for the whole thing. On the whole, I think that their pick of Do the Whirlwind was a pretty good choice. It’s definetely one of the strongest tracks on the album and is very upbeat and dance-inducing. Another gem is the all-to-short beauty that is The Cemetery. It feels like they crammed three amazing songs within this classic that clocks in at barely over two minutes.

What impressed me the most about In Case We Die was its cohesive nature. It felt more like an indivisible creation than just a collection of songs put onto a CD. You can tell that this album wasn’t hastily recorded or ill-planned. Rather, the effort of the band is evident upon first listen. This album almost seems like a gift from Architecture in Helsinki to the listener. I don’t know about you, but I feel like I owe them a thank you and a big hug.

Buy It!

Now, I know that this is usually where I put up some MP3s of the band so that you can sample ‘em and get a feel for how they sound. But this time around I couldn’t find any available for download. So you should go to their website and stream tracks from the new album. If that doesn’t do it for you, go here to download their first album. It was once hosted on their site, so I don’t see any harm linking to it.