Review Summary: A decent debut.
MY ARMS. produces a conglomeration of stuff and things that distract the music. Ordinary pop/hip-hop rhythms are included, along with sometimes sketchy singing. This album wishes to be challenging, yet the effort takes away from the beauty now and then. Creepy whispering is great mmkay, but it’s overdone. The singer has a nice voice yet they prefer to not use it, how odd. Other averted expectations: choruses (if they are choruses) are insufficient to remember, and half the songs conjure a way to be uncomfortable (nifty or annoying?).
Now for the good. The beats generally hit, and the pretty moments are enough to keep the music on the soft side of uncomfortable. The album is a light win, yet is slightly special. It manages to surprise and thus delight. It creates feelings of bafflement, only to be tempered with actually decent music and sucking rhythms, with enough rock momentum to go along with pop. It may take a second listen to fully appreciate her approach, though.
In an interview with mundanemag.com, Tina Moon confesses her love for Bjork’s fantasy paintings and, “the surreal and the outlandish”. Her inspiration is quite evident in her music. While this debut album isn’t as exotic as it tries to be, it has enough strange singing choices, dreamlike sections, and jungle beats to be quite varied, and sound unique. It’s only a shame that the melodies aren’t more immediately enthralling and enjoyable.
I expected more hooks. While the ambition to create something otherworldly is ambitious and interesting, I wish there was more of an effort in creating something pleasing. Sure, some generically catchy beats are included, but Tina seems more interested in playing around with melodies than giving something stable. With future refinements though, Tina Moon may have a banger in their hand…correction, ARMS.
