Darin - Microphone

"Hit the lights, start the show"

Though I've often admired his singles, I've never totally loved a full album by Swedish popstar Darin. That's changed with his new release, Lovekiller. What makes this kind of surprising is that it's an album dominated by ballads, which are not usually my cup of tea. Darin's secret weapon this time around is songwriter extraordinaire Tony Nilsson, who's had his hand in all but three of the tracks. I'm a huge fan of Nilsson's pop songs, even though the lyrics tend to be pretty stupid (and I've gotta admit, this album has some of the dumbest lyrics around). But his songwriting is stuck on "soaring," a perfect place to be when working with a talent like Darin, who's got a serious case of Michael-Jackson-complex (in the best possible way). Every ballad hits its cheesy-serious mark, and the few uptempos work wonders. Microphone kicks off the album in a big way--a declaration of "x-factor" that (unsurprisingly) is being used to promo this season of Swedish Idol. Full album review coming soon...

Darin - Microphone by tattoowesley

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Buy the album here. Follow me on twitter and facebook.