Aijā bySudden Lights.
When I was a very small child I had a flower-shaped contraption that played, when you pulled a string, a version of Brahms’ Lullaby. One of my earliest memories is lying in bed with it with my little night-light casting a gentle glow. It was so soothing. I can imagine myself back in my childhood bedroom as clear as if it was yesterday. I can even see the abstract floral pattern on the curtains.
It’s not far a step to remembering some of the recurrent nightmares I also had as a child in that room, and some of the visuals in Sudden Lights’ video could be close to them; claustrophobic, crowded in small spaces with other people engulfing you.
The song, translating something like Hushaby fancies itself as a modern lullaby, though it’s a far cry from Brahms. Whilst it lilts gently its intention to sooth is belied by its unusual structure and shifting time signatures.
It’s a beguiling composition, and it’s kind of working its way into my brain in a not unpleasant way, but I’ve had to invest quite a lot in it. One could call it a sleeper, though, with the focus needed to grasp it, hardly in the soporific sense. Its uniqueness might be its undoing, in any competitive sense; time to become accustomed to a song is not a luxury Eurovision’s three minutes on stage affords.
My marks: 6 points