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Hailing from Norway, singer Maria Mena found herself with some surprisingly high success at only 15 years old, a pop prodigy incorporating adult levels of emotion into her songwriting early, and backing it up with a soulful vocal that carries the right pieces to make the sound whole. On Apparently Unaffected, her third album builds strongly upon her previous efforts. While there are a few fairly standardized pop tracks (the bouncing but lyrically flat "Boytoy Baby"), the bulk of the album uses well-constructed arrangements set around the strong but intentionally unmanipulated vocals of Mena. The pieces pack an emotional punch through her delivery as much as through the lyrics. There's longing here, and passion, and a guarded vulnerability. Mena has a slight warble to much of her phrasing, a touch that makes some of the passages sound as though pried from an emotional outburst. For the most part, though, this makes for a nice addition to fairly moving tracks. It can be a bit much over the course of the album as a whole, but on any individual track, the sound is entirely refreshing, something worth hearing anew now and then. She's still breaking into the American markets, having captured much of the European scene already, but Mena, and most of Apparently Unaffected, are worth seeking out.
© Adam Greenberg /TiVo
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Maria Mena, Associated Performer, Composer, Lyricist, Main Artist - Arvid Solvang, Acoustic Guitar, Bass Guitar, Composer, Electric Guitar, Mixing Engineer, Producer, Programmer, Recording Engineer - Martin Sjolie, Co-Producer, Piano, Programmer, Recording Engineer - Chris Sansom, Mixing Engineer - Morten Lund, Mastering Engineer - Jørgen Bratlie - Fredrik Wallumrod, Drums
(P) 2005 SBME Norway AS
Maria Mena, Associated Performer, Composer, Lyricist, Main Artist - Arvid Solvang, Acoustic Guitar, Composer, Electric Guitar, Mixing Engineer, Producer, Programmer, Recording Engineer - Martin Sjolie, Co-Producer, Piano, Programmer, Recording Engineer - Chris Sansom, Mixing Engineer - Morten Lund, Mastering Engineer - Jørgen Bratlie - Fredrik Wallumrod, Drums - Lars Christian Folkvord, Bass Guitar - Tanja Orning, Cello
(P) 2005 SBME Norway AS
Maria Mena, Associated Performer, Composer, Lyricist, Main Artist - Arvid Solvang, Composer, Mixing Engineer, Producer, Recording Engineer - Martin Sjolie, Co-Producer, Mixing Engineer, Recording Engineer - Jan Erik Kongshaug, Mixing Engineer - Morten Lund, Mastering Engineer - eivind buene, Strings
(P) 2005 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT Norway AS
Maria Mena, Associated Performer, Composer, Lyricist, Main Artist - Arvid Solvang, Composer, Electric Guitar, Mixing Engineer, Producer, Programmer, Recording Engineer - Fredrik Wallumrod, Drums - Atle Rakvåg, Electric Guitar - Martin Sjolie, Co-Producer, Programmer, Recording Engineer - Morten Lund, Mastering Engineer - Chris Sansom, Mixing Engineer - Jørgen Bratlie
(P) 2005 SBME Norway AS
Maria Mena, Associated Performer, Composer, Lyricist, Main Artist - Arvid Solvang, Composer, Mixing Engineer, Producer, Recording Engineer - Martin Sjolie, Co-Producer, Piano, Recording Engineer - Chris Sansom, Mixing Engineer - Morten Lund, Mastering Engineer - Jørgen Bratlie
(P) 2005 SBME Norway AS
Maria Mena, Associated Performer, Composer, Lyricist, Main Artist - Arvid Solvang, Composer, Electric Guitar, Mixing Engineer, Producer, Programmer, Recording Engineer - Martin Sjolie, Co-Producer, Keyboards, Piano, Recording Engineer - Chris Sansom, Mixing Engineer - Morten Lund, Mastering Engineer - Jørgen Bratlie - Fredrik Wallumrod, Drums - Gunnhild Sundli - Atle Rakvåg, Bass Guitar - Borge Petersen Overleir, Acoustic Guitar
(P) 2005 SBME Norway AS
Maria Mena, Associated Performer, Composer, Lyricist, Main Artist - Arvid Solvang, Composer, Electric Guitar, Mixing Engineer, Producer, Programmer, Recording Engineer - Martin Sjolie, Co-Producer, Piano, Recording Engineer - Chris Sansom, Mixing Engineer - Morten Lund, Mastering Engineer - Jørgen Bratlie - Fredrik Wallumrod, Drums - Lars Christian Folkvord, Bass Guitar - Borge Petersen Overleir, Acoustic Guitar
(P) 2005 SBME Norway AS
Maria Mena, Associated Performer, Composer, Lyricist, Main Artist - Arvid Solvang, Bass Guitar, Electric Guitar, Mixing Engineer, Producer, Programmer, Recording Engineer - Martin Sjolie, Co-Producer, Piano, Programmer, Recording Engineer - Chris Sansom, Mixing Engineer - Morten Lund, Mastering Engineer - Jørgen Bratlie - jonnas mcdiffith, Composer - Fredrik Wallumrod, Drums - Borge Petersen Overleir, Acoustic Guitar
(P) 2005 SBME Norway AS
Maria Mena, Associated Performer, Composer, Lyricist, Main Artist - Arvid Solvang, Composer, Mixing Engineer, Producer, Recording Engineer - Martin Sjolie, Co-Producer, Piano, Recording Engineer - Chris Sansom, Mixing Engineer - Morten Lund, Mastering Engineer - Jørgen Bratlie
(P) 2005 SBME Norway AS
Maria Mena, Associated Performer, Composer, Lyricist, Main Artist - Arvid Solvang, Acoustic Guitar, Composer, Electric Guitar, Mixing Engineer, Producer, Programmer, Recording Engineer - Martin Sjolie, Co-Producer, Organ, Piano, Programmer, Recording Engineer - Chris Sansom, Mixing Engineer - Morten Lund, Mastering Engineer - Fredrik Wallumrod, Drums - Lars Christian Folkvord, Bass Guitar
(P) 2005 SBME Norway AS
Maria Mena, Associated Performer, Composer, Lyricist, Main Artist - Arvid Solvang, Bass Guitar, Composer, Mixing Engineer, Producer, Programmer, Recording Engineer - Martin Sjolie, Co-Producer, Organ, Programmer, Recording Engineer - Chris Sansom, Mixing Engineer - Morten Lund, Mastering Engineer - Fredrik Wallumrod, Drums - Lars Christian Folkvord, Bass Guitar - Borge Petersen Overleir, Acoustic Guitar - Jørgen Bratlie
(P) 2005 SBME Norway AS
Maria Mena, Associated Performer, Composer, Lyricist, Main Artist - Arvid Solvang, Bass Guitar, Composer, Electric Guitar, Mixing Engineer, Producer, Programmer, Recording Engineer - Martin Sjolie, Co-Producer, Piano, Programmer, Recording Engineer - Chris Sansom, Mixing Engineer - Morten Lund, Mastering Engineer - Fredrik Wallumrod, Drums - Borge Petersen Overleir, Acoustic Guitar
(P) 2005 SBME Norway AS
Maria Mena, Associated Performer, Composer, Lyricist, Main Artist - Arvid Solvang, Acoustic Guitar, Composer, Mixing Engineer, Producer, Programmer, Recording Engineer - Martin Sjolie, Co-Producer, Organ, Programmer, Recording Engineer - Chris Sansom, Mixing Engineer - Morten Lund, Mastering Engineer - Jørgen Bratlie - Atle Rakvåg, Bass Guitar - Borge Petersen Overleir, Acoustic Guitar - Tanja Orning, Cello
(P) 2005 SBME Norway AS
Maria Mena, Associated Performer, Composer, Lyricist, Main Artist - Arvid Solvang, Composer, Mixing Engineer, Producer, Recording Engineer - Martin Sjolie, Co-Producer, Piano, Recording Engineer - Chris Sansom, Mixing Engineer - Morten Lund, Mastering Engineer - Jørgen Bratlie
(P) 2005 SBME Norway AS
Album review
Hailing from Norway, singer Maria Mena found herself with some surprisingly high success at only 15 years old, a pop prodigy incorporating adult levels of emotion into her songwriting early, and backing it up with a soulful vocal that carries the right pieces to make the sound whole. On Apparently Unaffected, her third album builds strongly upon her previous efforts. While there are a few fairly standardized pop tracks (the bouncing but lyrically flat "Boytoy Baby"), the bulk of the album uses well-constructed arrangements set around the strong but intentionally unmanipulated vocals of Mena. The pieces pack an emotional punch through her delivery as much as through the lyrics. There's longing here, and passion, and a guarded vulnerability. Mena has a slight warble to much of her phrasing, a touch that makes some of the passages sound as though pried from an emotional outburst. For the most part, though, this makes for a nice addition to fairly moving tracks. It can be a bit much over the course of the album as a whole, but on any individual track, the sound is entirely refreshing, something worth hearing anew now and then. She's still breaking into the American markets, having captured much of the European scene already, but Mena, and most of Apparently Unaffected, are worth seeking out.
© Adam Greenberg /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 14 track(s)
- Total length: 00:37:12
- Main artists: Maria Mena
- Composer: Maria Mena
- Label: Columbia
- Genre: Pop/Rock Pop
(P) 2005 SBME Norway AS
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