Quick Look

Death, separation, poverty, loneliness – all themes explored in the debut album from Austrian singer songwriter Pina. Don’t start reaching for those razorblades just yet though because, as surprisingly sprightly divorce detailing opener ‘I Loved The Way’ proves, Pina may be bloodied but she is most certainly unbowed.

Now resident in West Cork, her experiences would only seem to make her – and her music – stronger. Quick Look is an album bursting with energy and ideas, all rooted within the fairly traditional acoustic/electric rock format yet sounding fresh and exciting. Blessed with a delightfully rich, European voice, Pina has assembled an elegant, uplifting collection of songs. There are hints of Liz Phair throughout, plus the widescreen American songwriting of Tom Petty, even the gothic country drama of Dolly Parton.

The results are anything but tortured, even given the often emotional nature of the material. ‘Josephine’, a song of death, is paradoxically brimming with life, while in her hands the most hopeless situations can’t help but seem hopeful.

Scratch a little deeper, however, and the heartache behind the muse begins to reveal itself (‘I Loved The Way’ talks simply of “crying all day long” while on ‘Cold Storm’ she asks for “a brand new heart, a brand new start”), all the more affecting given its spirited presentation.

A deep, dark, truthful debut.