aaamusic | On 26, May 2012

Although the world may appear saturated by pixielike singer-songwriters, I think we could find room for Mina Tindle, as ‘Taranta’ is a strong showing of arty indie pop that can’t help but charm its way into the warmer parts of the listener’s psyche.

‘Bells’, with its acoustic dreaminess channels soul and ethereal folkiness in equal measures with a result that is at once softly pop and yet remains on the spectral outskirts, leading into the jittery piano of ‘To Carry Many Small Things’, which sounds like a fairy duetting with Laura Marling. There’s a definite folky singer-songwriter side here, but Tindle’s voice holds not only a delicate front but a powerful insistence that fits well alongside the busy instrumentation that the song holds, with its banjos, handclaps, multi-layered vocals, and pretty much ever other small thing the track could carry without exploding. The haunting minute of ‘Time Writer’ offers a succinct, well-placed episode of comparative sparseness before we’re put back into the world of “proper” songs with the luxurious and undeniably beautiful ‘Pan’, another acoustic number sung in French this time, and despite the language barrier, there’s a grace and emotional power that needs a heart of stone to deny as Mina Tindle flits between breathy delivery and something a bit darker. Switching again to English, ‘Lovely Day’ is a ghostly pop number, perhaps a little overly quirky in comparison to its predecessor but with a bustling charm of its own, same with the almost jaunty ‘Too Loud’, which is like a gossamer radio phantom in its organ/piano interplay, and the most sunny Tindle’s voice sounds on the entire record.
‘Echo’ is a startling standout. In some respects, it’s totally understated. Just Tindle and an acoustic guitar for the most part, with a gradually-introduced string section, but it is this very stripped-down intimacy that makes it so special. Even as it progresses into bigger sounds, there’s something so totally charming here in the sonic textures and nuances that leaves you aching, as does the choral vocals of ‘Alegria’, and the darker clockwork percussion and cavernous textures of the stately ‘Austin’, which creeps under the skin like ‘Pan’ did.
There are weaker moments. ‘Ukulele’ feels a little throwaway, and both ‘Sister’ and ‘Henry’ get a little too quirkily off-kilter to really work, despite the smart use of percussion and a charming lyricism in the latter. ‘Demain’ could also fall under this category, although it proves too self-assured and musically captivating, ending up being a surprisingly powerful song.

Ultimately, ‘Taranta’ doesn’t tick every box, but it is a gentle, even beautiful album in places where Tindle’s voice becomes a breathtakingly emotive musical instrument in its own right, and there’s a subtle use of musical exploration in polyphonic vocal tracks and the unusual instrumentation in places. If you want something a little more avant-garde yet at the same time touchingly human, this might just be your thing. I just wish there were a few more songs in French on here, as there’s a tenderness in these particular tracks that is lost in slight stiltedness on the English ones.

★★★★★

Katie H-Halinski