Emiliana Torrini: Me and Armini

Music Reviews Emiliana Torrini
Emiliana Torrini: Me and Armini

Lord of the Rings singer makes Sunday-morning music

A diva/chanteuse somewhere between the bad-girl anti-heroics of Lily Allen and the Sunday morning adulthood of Norah Jones, Emiliana Torrini sings with the inquisitiveness of fellow Icelander Björk. On Me and Armini, Torrini’s sixth album (third international), her songs are set into glittering poptronics by collaborator Dan Carey, with whom Torrini once co-wrote and co-produced songs for Kylie Minogue. The two aren’t afraid to aim for absolute hookiness. “Some people think that I’m heading for a meltdown,” she sings on the reggae-influenced title track (and obvious single). In places, the album feels a little too cute. “Big Jumps,” for instance, is affixed with a “Walk On The Wild Side” do-do-do outro. But it’s usually in good spirits and plenty likeable—witness the playful, onomatopoeic refrain of “Jungle Drum.” There is most certainly a parallel universe in which Emilana Torrini is the Next Big Thing.

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