Klee

Honeysuckle

(Minty Fresh)

Record Review by Amber Henson

Let me first give you the shorthand version of this review: Klee sounds like Keane, if Keane were German and fronted by a girl.  This girl’s name is Suzie Kerstgens and she has a voice that sounds somewhat like Emily Haines from Metric.  Her band has a lot of ‘80s influences, very much post-punk.

Okay, so now that you have an idea of what we’re working with, let’s go into details.  Will they be able to make it big here in the States?  Maybe—if they release an album that’s all in English (with maybe one German song to show their roots).  As it is, Honeysuckle has three songs in English, all very good, all very Keane sounding—that is to say, inspiring and uplifting, the kind of song that makes you want to get up and jump around just for the sheer joy of it.  Their single, “This is For Everyone” (or “Fur Alle, Die”) is a good example of that.  With a crescendoing piano underlining lyrics like “This is for everyone who makes amends,” there’s a warm feeling that grows inside you.   Not all their songs are like that.  Some sound like Coldplay, others like The Cure, and there’s a little New Order and Joy Division thrown in as well.

Suzie Kerstgens has a very beautiful voice.  When she sings in English, you can’t really tell that she normally speaks German.  She over-pronounces the words, but it just makes her sound British.  And when she speaks German, it’s rather interesting.  On some songs, she’s very much about the consonants, but other times the German sounds almost French due to the softness of her voice.

The fact that most of the album is in German actually isn’t as off-putting as you may think.  For one thing, it doesn’t really matter that you can’t understand the lyrics, because, well, you can’t really understand most lyrics in songs anyway, and there’s also a great wall of sound coming at you.  Another nice thing is if you put this on your playlist for a party, your friends will think you’re cool and indie and cultured.  And you feel more cultured as you listen to it.  “Yeah, I’m listening to German.  Cool.”  This is definitely recommended.  I can’t wait to see what they do next.