Review Summary: An uncommonly confident introduction. As a debut record, Pocketknife takes after its namesake in more ways than one. Slight yet sharp, utilitarian yet versatile, it’s an uncommonly confident introduction, even as it tends to meander into the tried and true lanes of other female electro-pop artists, lanes that have become increasingly interchangeable. There’s some Lykke Li in Mr Little Jeans compositions and predilection for overcast tones, a lilting delivery that touches on Nina Persson and some of the vigor of Ladyhawke. The Los Angeles-by-way-of-Norway artist also known as Monica Birkenes has little trouble establishing a voice, albeit one that tends to shift with the fluid moods of the synths that populate the record. Pocketknife is at once clever and frothy as it is cerebral and withdrawn, as if Birkenes is reticent to fully sketch out a more private portrait.
The record’s long-gestation period, pockmarked with the occasional blog blip and a wrenching, perfect cover of Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs,” no doubt has a hand in this, but on the whole it’s a shiftlessness that only becomes apparent on repeated listens. At its heart, Pocketknife is a nifty, incisive little thing, easy to appreciate and a pleasure to use. The album leads off with the bubbly “Rescue Song,” where Birkenes promises she’ll “rescue you, so you can rescue me too” while the drums propel that major key chorus to a place deep in the base of your brain, where, well, good luck getting it out. It’s an utterly weightless bit of pop confectionary, a fitting palette cleanser for the even more insistent lyrical trifle “Runaway” and the twee-as-.
“Oh Sailor,” which prominently features L.A’s Silverlake Conservatory of Music Youth Chorale. It’s a far cry from her rendition of “The Suburbs,” which makes an encore appearance here after racking up millions of views on YouTube a couple years ago. That song encapsulated all the promise of Mr Little Jeans in one fitting five-minute sample, dark and mysterious and making the ennui of suburbia feel very threatening and compellingly elemental. In Birkenes’ voice and grimy, haunted synths, Win Butler’s lyrics became more fully realized than the original managed – the rare cover that transforms its source material into an even greater success. Here, however, “The Suburbs” is an anomaly in a sea of inventive production and melodic highs that rarely plumb deeper than their insistent four-on-the-floor beats. That may come off sounding like a criticism, but it’s an unwarranted one. “The Suburbs” may stand out initially, but Birkenes’s songwriting chops and deep bag of production tricks make Pocketknife multifaceted enough to succeed at what it plainly sets out to do, the unexpected wallop of “The Suburbs” notwithstanding.
“Good Mistake” rides a sinister pulse along Birkenes’ ambiguous lyrics and sardonic lyrical perspective, while “Far From Home” inverts Birkenes’ inherent pop catchiness into a straightforward, soul-crushing ballad. When Birkenes casts aside the songwriting cloak, as on “Far From Home” or the hazy, gorgeous “Haunted,” she’s as intimate a songwriter as any. Yet Birkenes is often at her best when she’s playing the role of a devious guide, pairing obtuse imagery with a warped sense of hooks and a penchant for turning those skittish drum machines and ethereal guitars into a vaguely spooky blend, be it on the gauzy sheen of “Mercy” or the hectic, mischievous production on “Lady Luck.” Even when Pocketknife lags, as it does on its back end and in the unnecessarily extended coda to “Valentine,” it’s easy to see Birkenes’ ambition, her refusal to be pigeonholed onto an easily circumscribed notch on the FM dial. A bit of cutting here, some honing there – Pocketknife is a record on the verge of being greater than the sum of its parts. As is, it’s nevertheless an album that is a joy to listen to, even if you wish it drew just a bit more blood.
Monica Birkenes opens her debut full-length singing like a bird celebrating its bird-ness: cooing and twittering in sweet and playful tones, swooping and dipping and gliding for the fun of it. It’s the best kind of pop, in the vein of Cardigans and Brunettes.
But slipping into the duskier tones of “Mercy,” it’s clear that Pocketknife is more than pop confection. Her super-chill and somewhat spooky cover of Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs” garnered the Norwegian singer a few million new YouTube fans, and her morphing from pop to moody electronica and back again hasn’t seemed to bother them a bit. Mr Little Jeans (she took the moniker from a character in the quirky and beloved film “Rushmore”) seems quite comfy in pants of all kinds: the sleek Knife-nod “Good Mistake” is as sexy and cool as black leather; the kids’ choir on “Oh Sailor” is as carefree as summer capris; the drowsy “Mercy” ebbs and flows like a silky pair of harem pants. Birkenes is a confident and strong writer and arranger, a fabulous performer, and an artist ready to join Lorde and Lykke Li on the big stage. Monica Birkenes opens her debut full-length singing like a bird celebrating its bird-ness: cooing and twittering in sweet and playful tones, swooping and dipping and gliding for the fun of it. It’s the best kind of pop, in the vein of Cardigans and Brunettes. But slipping into the duskier tones of “Mercy,” it’s clear that Pocketknife is more than pop confection.
Her super-chill and somewhat spooky cover of Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs” garnered the Norwegian singer a few million new YouTube fans, and her morphing from pop to moody electronica and back again hasn’t seemed to bother them a bit. Mr Little Jeans (she took the moniker from a character in the quirky and beloved film “Rushmore”) seems quite comfy in pants of all kinds: the sleek Knife-nod “Good Mistake” is as sexy and cool as black leather; the kids’ choir on “Oh Sailor” is as carefree as summer capris; the drowsy “Mercy” ebbs and flows like a silky pair of harem pants. Birkenes is a confident and strong writer and arranger, a fabulous performer, and an artist ready to join Lorde and Lykke Li on the big stage.
This needs additional for. Please help by adding.
Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially or harmful. (July 2015) Mr Little Jeans Birth name Monica Birkenes Born, Norway Genres, Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter, musician Instruments Vocals Years active 2010–present Labels, Website Monica Birkenes, better known by her stage name Mr Little Jeans (also stylized Mr. Little Jeans), is a Norwegian singer-songwriter living in Los Angeles, CA. She has released one studio album, 'Pocketknife' (2014). The pseudonym Mr Little Jeans is inspired by Kumar Pallana’s character in Wes Anderson’s film. Contents. Early life Birkenes grew up in rural, Norway, the daughter of a shipbuilder and secretary.
In her youth she performed in town plays and musical events, as well as church choirs and retirement homes. At age 18 she moved to London to study drama while waitressing to make ends meet. Music career 2010–present: Pocketknife After signing to independent label, Birkenes released her first single 'Rescue Song' in 2010. The Guardian compared her sound at the time to, and. Later that year she put out her first EP entitled 'Angel EP.' Birkenes grew in popularity with her 2011 cover of 's 'The Suburbs.' She often collaborates with Los Angeles producer, who was instrumental in creating her debut album, Pocketknife.
The record was released on on March 25, 2014. Discography. Pocketknife (2014). F E V E R S - EP (2016) References.
Mr. Little Jeans Pocket Knife
Norway's musical heritage goes far beyond Edvard Grieg and black metal. Exhibit A: Mr Little Jeans, the musical outfit of Norwegian-by-way-of-Los-Angeles ASCAP member Monica Birkenes. On her new album Pocketknife, out now on Harvest, Birkenes serves up 12 tracks of exuberant electro-pop, as multi-faceted as the tool that gave the album its name.
We asked Birkenes to open up her Pocketknife for us. What was the general songwriting process like on your debut full-length, Pocketknife? Do you have a typical way of writing a new song? It generally starts with some kind of idea of where we wanna take the track, building it from scratch in whatever direction we're going.
Once the track is done, I like to freestyle over it to see what comes out melody-wise. I might already have some idea of what to do with some parts, but I always record what I improvise and most of my melodies are written largely around that. If there are missing parts, I generally take them home and continue writing there. I'm not a big fan of writing lyrics in the studio and love having a little extra time to write them at home if I can. But you also take part in the production of your songs as well.
How do you get involved from that standpoint? I've been involved in the whole process of creating a song from start to finish from the very beginning of this project, so I think it’s a natural thing to have something to say about what goes into the production, as it's a huge part of the overall picture. And the more I do it, the more I learn and the more opinions I have. The next level is pushing the buttons myself, which still feels a little daunting. The songs on Pocketknife are varied, but still fit tightly together.
Were there songs where you set off in one direction and ended up with different results than you intended? It's is a hard thing to control. There've been great surprises and great disappointments, but it does keep it interesting. The album was also written over the course of three years at least, and the sound most certainly went in different directions, especially in the beginning. Later on it became more focused, in many ways so much so that I felt like writing record number two straight away. I also wrote a little more sporadically towards the end, which gave me a lot of time to gather ideas and inspiration. That was a great luxury to have.
Are most of the songs on Pocketknife tied to personal experience? Or are any of them written from a more outside perspective?
About 99% of it is from a personal experience in that it's written from my perspective, whether it's about myself or someone else. Some songs are more openly personal and some I've added or subtracted or made it purposefully vague to make the story slightly unrecognizable. I don't necessarily want everyone else to know what a song is about, but I need the songs to make sense to myself, at least.
Tour
'Good Mistake' is such a driving song. Did you have that concept from the beginning, or did it develop that way as it was produced? We actually started working on the track for “Good Mistake” with the intention of writing it for/with another artist, but as soon as hit on the guitar hook, I knew it felt more like me than the artist we were in the studio with. Fortunately she agreed to let me take over, and I'm so very happy she did. Lyrically, I'd had the concept brewing for a little while, so it was ready to go and very therapeutic. You brought in a choir of children to sing on 'Oh Sailor.'
What were those sessions like? Messy, loud and fun. They were break-dancing, crying, playing whatever instruments they could get their hands on, and a little girl puked on the floor in the very beginning. I sang one line of the chorus at a time, having them repeat it back to me until they knew the chorus by heart. The first time I heard it played back was magical. Your cover of Arcade Fire's 'The Suburbs,' which has been around since 2011, appears on your new album.
How did you decide to include that one? I decided to include it as it's never had a proper release, and hopefully it'll make some people happy that it's part of the album family. Over the course of your artist and songwriting career, what person would you say has had the most influence on you, artistically or otherwise? I would say every single producer I've ever written with has helped me develop and that's had a great influence on my writing. My manager Drew McFadden has also been hugely influential. He saw where I wanted to take this from the very beginning and has helped me make my way there ever since. Be it suggesting who to write with next or introducing me to music that’s inspired me and that I would've never discovered myself, he's been a big part of shaping Mr Little Jeans.
What is one thing we wouldn't necessarily learn about you from listening to your music and lyrics? I make amazing red velvet cake pops!. Pocketknife came out on March 25 th, 2014. Visit Mr Little Jeans on the interwebs.