Sinine - Dreams Come True

For three long years I have been waiting, longing, hoping. Sinine's 'Butterflies' from 2009 took me by storm and is still a favorite album of mine. Mauno's unique way of singing, the dark atmosphere created by a mixture of electronic and classical music, bordering sometimes to folk. Needless to say, if you haven't checked out that album, you must do so.

I would not say that Sinine's new album 'Dreams Come True' is disappointing, however, there's a decision I do not agree with.

After the instrumental intro "February" featuring unspoken vocals by Ann-Mari Thim, the best track of the album comes; "I'm Dreaming", which is also featured as a video and was the second single released from this album. Here, everything what I love about Sinine come true, slow paced depth, Mauno's beautiful unique vocals, its emotional touch. It makes me sad, it makes me happy. It's like Mauno takes his musical finger, pierce it through my chest bone and poke the nerves of my heart. Beautiful.

The sad thing is that after this, I never return to that place. It's an island I got to experience for a short while, never to return to. And here we come to the big thing I do not agree with on this album.

On 'Dreams Come True', getting a track that only feature Mauno's vocals is pretty rare. Many, if not to say most, tracks on this album is featuring female vocals from different artists. "I Can't See You", "Sel Teel", "Call Me", "Where Are You Going" and "Vaata" are all doing this. Sure, the female vocals are great and beautiful, but to me, it's not Sinine, it's something else.

"I Can't See You" and the first single "Sel Teel" featuring Sandra Nurmsalu are well made tracks, even though the second one might give you a feeling of a hard version of Eurovision. But the only time I really feel close to experience "I'm Dreaming" is during the short and beautiful ballad "Stronger".

I need to repeat this, it's not bad, it's good, sometimes great even. However, I can't stop feeling I was robbed by the experience I was hoping for. It's not what I expected. It's important that Mauno continues to follow his dream and creativity, I just hope he realizes that the beauty lies within the work AND voice of Mauno. In that, there's where you will find my love. Oct 08 2012