The Tiny/ Gravity & Grace

The Tiny
Gravity & Grace
(DetErMine)

The third album from Swedish husband-and-wife duo The Tiny is undoubtedly an arresting piece of work. The very real sense of drama and urgency in Ellekari Larsson’s vocal style is there for all to hear, nearly always backed up by the kind of edgy piano and cello combinations which you could imagine soundtracking the stranger scenes of a Lars von Trier film.
When taking in ‘Gravity & Grace’ for the first time, the listener will be forced to form their own opinion about Larsson’s vocals pretty quickly, such is their sheer prominence. While there’s no questioning the fact that she’s an intriguing storyteller (‘Never Coming Back’, ‘Pet Semetary’), her occasional jumps between pitches sometimes make her a challenging listen.
For the most part though, her delivery adds to the album’s weird charm. In spite of there being various show-stopping moments on Gravity & Grace when you can hear the duo getting rather worked up (the fantastic ‘Last Weekend’ and the Joanna Newsom-esque ‘Lithium’), the instrumentation which Leo Svensson has put together is often at its best when it’s at more restrained.
Some may find that an eleven-track dose of this Swedish couple is a bit too much to take all in one sitting, but given the chance, there are certainly enough moments to cherish, even in isolation.