On ‘Slow Thinker’, Noralyn makes her mark with a distinctive style of indie pop driven by piano but sprinkled with pieces of electronic scattered across the remarkably ethereal and atmospheric production. Her voice cascades off the subtlety of the keys like raindrops flowing down. Within the opening track itself, her vocal range is put to an orchestral display. The way she expresses herself here, singing ‘I’m a slow, slow thinker’ immediately drew me into the overbearing and ominous air that the track itself exuded. On ‘Education’, the pace is kicked up a notch and the song progresses to a more traditionally up tempo indie pop tune. Even hear though, it’s within Noralyn’s utilisation of the piano that she’s able to set her style apart as something to be marvelled at.
Across the nine track record, Noralyn weaves between fragile and vulnerable pieces through pomp and through restraint. There are more power pop pieces like ‘Girls & Boys’ and more mellowed ballads like ‘Fiction Borders’ to give the record its own journey driven flow The latter track might just be the most majestic and addictive on the entire record. The single has already garnered a fair deal of attention, but its arrangement is simply gob smacking and palatial. The way Noralyn builds the tension, gradually adds more and more elements, it elevates and continues to elevate until it hits a crescendo that’s roaringly powerful and cathartic.
A piece of indie pop that’s equal parts innovative as it is traditionally meticulous. Ballads, power pop, and more with a vocal talent to marvel at and piano work to lose yourself to.