On further investigation, the initial impression is confirmed. With histrionic twists of Lene Lovich, Siouxsie Sioux and David Byrne, Kilpelainen's vocals perfectly match her futuristic, comic book stage incarnation. With a penchant for wearing black catsuits and plenty of bacofoil onstage, the image is decidedly space opera. "Instead of making it to Mars I feel I get stuck on Earth," she sings in In-Valid, and it's easy to imagine her starring in a B-movie sci-fi thriller starring the bloke out of Quantum Leap. HK119 would play the vampish alien seductress who tried to claw his eyes out before he blows her up with a laser gun, of course.

Okay, back to the album. Opening with what sounds like a botched space announcement and a computer's modem connecting itself to the internet, it segues into a understated funk number about a lady "having a friend for dinner". To eat alive, that is. Malfunction and Pick Me Up are stripped-down Numan-esque servings of electro pop designed for robot dancing. But it's not all aimed at the disco. Censor Me is a pretty ballad and hidden track, Taysikuu is an Eastern-European sounding waltz (albeit played on synth and drum machine).

Apparently an arts graduate from Central St Martins, Kilpelainen has clearly invented HK119 as the persona of a performance artist of which music is part, but not the whole. I can well imagine that this might have been part of her final art project. With this in mind, it's probably the case that the album makes more sense and impact when viewed live where you'd get to see her perform the numbers in character.

Patchy though this debut album is, HK119 certainly brings a bit of space glitter and humour to a world where insipid schmatlz (mentioning no names... oh alright then, Coldplay and James Blunt) is considered music par excellance. It's a shame she's unlikely to set the charts alight any time soon; nevertheless, it's good to have her around.

  share:  Facebook | Digg | del.icio.us | more