Name: The Decline of Female Happiness
Brand: Karaoke Kalk
SKU: 1228655
Availability: OutOfStock

The Decline of Female Happiness

By Donna Regina

Rating

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Format

Vinyl (1 Disc); Stereo

Release Date

26 July 2010

Album: The Decline of Female Happiness
#	Song Title	Time
1)	Decline of Female Happiness, The
2)	Vague
3)	Until You Do
4)	Perfect Stranger
5)	Tied to Your Ship
6)	Lost Sunday
7)	Last Love
8)	Diamond of the Day
9)	Still Looking for a Home
10)	For Good Again

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EAN

0880918029818

Writer

Donna Regina

Country

USA

Studio/Live

Studio

Label

Karaoke Kalk

Performer Notes

The German husband-and-wife duo of singer Regina Janssen and instrumentalist G?nther Janssen has been working as Donna Regina since the early `90s, and it might once have been fairly accurate to call Donna Regina's music "synth pop," but they've certainly transcended the tag with latter-day releases like 2010's The Decline of Female Happiness. While there's no lack of electronic riffs and programmed beats coming from G?nther's end, he employs just as much acoustic guitar and piano, and no one in one's right mind would consider these tracks dance music. In the past, Donna Regina has been repeatedly compared to electro-pop outfits like Saint Etienne, but by this point they're closer to the sparkling, semi-organic pop of, say, the Concretes. In fact, much of Female Happiness comes off like a 21st century Europop version of the partnership between Burt Bacharach and Dionne Warwick, with synths setting the mood instead of fl?gelhorns. In the darker, more mysterious moments, one might even be reminded of the way that Nancy Sinatra could coo sweetly atop a world of sonic unease wrought by Lee Hazlewood. Regina's voice may not have a ton of physical range, but it's surprisingly flexible when it comes to expressive possibilities. She can conjure up a cloudless, blue-sky day when the mood turns to summery pop, but she can just as easily offer an ethereal, semi-detached tone when things get more overtly Euro/electro-sounding, and she manages it all without any obvious show of effort. Her vocal delivery is consistently relaxed and smooth throughout the album, whatever the musical mode. "Let it be good and cool and true," Regina croons repeatedly on "Last Love," and that seems to be as apt a motto as any for what she brings to this musical partnership. ~ J. Allen

Professional Reviews

Clash (magazine) - "A sweetly melancholic, analogue warmth pervades this record with Nico-like hushed vocals atop floating acoustic guitar and laconic beats."

Uncut (magazine) (p.91) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Their songs often recall the Europhilic climes of Saint Etienne's TIGER BAY-era ballads, partly thanks to Regina Janssen's droll, almost detached delivery."