‘All My Mistakes’ is a thoroughly pleasant ‘best of’ album from Faroe Islands born singer / songwriter Teitur Lassen. The tracks collected here mostly come from his previous three albums, which were not released in the UK. Opening well with ‘Don’t Want You To Wake Up’, Teitur establishes his understated, stripped back acoustic folk stylings, with a melancholic turn of phrase and light and uplifting melodies. ‘Louie Louie’ is a gently rolling number with a world weary feel that captures the more atmospheric side side of Teitur’s work. The album overall is slightly let down by a number of soft and unchallenging pop numbers, such as ‘One & Only’ and ‘You’re The Ocean’, which are both guilty of riding first class on the cheese express. “Love is somewhere in between what you believe and what you dream” Anyone? Once my urge to drink bleach had subsided, a couple of other nice numbers popped up. ‘Boy She Can Sing’ is also good, but the most innovative track by quite a way is ‘Catherine The Waitress’, which has a more upbeat Belle & Sebastian feel. With some atmospheric instrumental touches and a gentle, singing voice, there are more decent songs than mistakes with Teitur’s work. Unfortunately, he occasionally slips across the border to cheese town and almost tricks you into following.
Bearing an uncanny resemblance to Conor Oberst vocals and having the instrumental armoury of Beirut, Faroe Islands most exquisite export of late- Teitur, had been scarcely unknown as a musician for far too long. Although this represents his forth studio album ‘The Singer’ Teitur confidently hurdles the bottomless bin of singer-song writers that has seen the plight of many. There’s a classical grandeur appeal to Teitur’s reverb drenched sound. “I never meant to be a singer, but I’m slowly getting used to the idea” in a slow burning melodic dream-gazing way, he then mutters “I sing to be loved” on title track ‘The Singer’. The languid style of his vocal input is a calming sea of expressions (‘Your Great Book’) and the ever present horn sections in ‘All For The Girl’ and ‘We Still Drink The Same Water’ are the alarming waves within that sea. Not even the doom-laden ‘Guilty By Association’ and its saddening string section can strip this album of its excellence. For disciples of Zach Condon (Beirut) and Bright Eyes this really is something to make your mouth salivate with excitement. Teitur is now very much the ‘Singer’ he always dreamed of being and much, much more.
