MUSIC REVIEW: Smalltime Players - “Smalltime Players”
Since my semi-hiatus from the metal scene, I’ve spent some time exploring different music scenes in Finland, from a great deal of indie singers and psych bands to classic acoustic American-styled folk music, and more. Amongst the artists I’ve been recently introduced to, I’ve been really interested to see what other work Johanna and Mikko Iivanainen do outside of Altamullan Road, whom I’ve seen around five times now. Ever since those shows in January and May, I’ve started listening to a lot of their solo albums, with Johanna Iivanainen’s “Mustarastas laulaa” (2013) and “Broken River” (2021) and Mikko Iivanainen’s “Lullaby for Lost Souls” (2023) and “A River Runs Through It” (2020) being particular favorites. The couple’s most recent upcoming release, however, is a new project called Smalltime Players, which features Edu Kettunen and Mika Kuokkanen as well. The self-titled debut release is due out on September 6th, 2024, so keep your eyes and ears peeled!
In case you’re new here, I often like to use this first paragraph to give a general personal history on the artist, so if you’d like to compare your favorites to mine to see how comparable our tastes are, this next paragraph is for you! After all, music is subjective! So, with that in mind, feel free to skip down to the next paragraph if you’re not interested in my personal history with Smalltime Players.
After learning about Johanna and Mikko Iivananen via Altamullan Road and their tour this year, I’ve started getting acquainted with their own solo material. Mikko’s instrumental guitar albums are fantastically atmospheric and Johanna has a lot of beautiful, emotional songs in her repertoire. Edu Kettunen and Mika Kuokkanen (the latter known from Hoedown) are, however, completely new names for me, though surely not for the locals. As such, as soon as the Smalltime Players album was announced, I immediately put it on my list of albums to check out. So, while I don’t obviously know their music since this is an all-new and totally fresh album and project, I’m coming in which no expectations but a hope that I’ll love it as much as I love the Iivanainens’ other music! And since my pal Kathy Criswell joined me in contributing to this review, it’s worth mentioning that she also came to these guys through Altamullan Road and was basically with me for all of the aforementioned shows earlier this year.
After my first listen-through of the album, my immediate response was, “well that was unexpected and welcome!” The feeling is very folky, but in a more North American folk way than I had initially expected, driven by acoustic guitar, but with things like harmonica sprinkled in for extra flavor and texture. It’s also not very gloomy, which I find honestly quite refreshing in Finland—the mood is very pleasant and upbeat! In fact, both Kathy and I immediately associated this album with our fathers, who are fans of this type of music, which Kathy affectionately called “dad folk” (and that’s pretty spot-on).
“A Matter of Time” starts things off on a very folky and gentle note, accompanied by really spectacular… gosh is that banjo? The music video (below) has a home video quality and works well as both a starting track and an album opener, giving the listener an impression of what sort of music this album is serving. This easily feels like the sort of song you would sing around a hearth or campfire or any sort of place where families hang out and play music together.
Johanna takes over vocals in “Didn’t Mean to Make You Cry,” sounding like she belongs in a Nashville country band, especially since the song has some steel guitar in it. Apologizing through music is such a classic thing, especially country music, so this song is really touching and feels very akin to a lot of the music I listened to by proxy of my parents when I was a kid.
There’s a smoky hearthside feel again to “Back for More”… well, really, that could be a good way to describe this album as a whole, but this track about leaving and promising to return is so reminiscent of old country love songs. The gentle backing vocals alongside Edu Kettunen’s mellow tone really add another layer of depth as well. Then comes one of the album’s highlights, “Free Fallen Man,” whose guitar sound is really reminiscent of some of Mark Knopfler’s songs, while the harmonica brings Bob Dylan to mind, which is never a bad thing. Perhaps the best thing about this song is the attitude though, to just free-fall, live life as it comes, and do what makes you happy. We all need more songs like this in our lives! Kathy and I definitely both vibe off this message.
If you’re looking to sway back and forth without even noticing you’re doing it, “Dreams” is going to be for you. This soft and gentle ballad is really spectacular, and in my case particularly because most country slow songs are really gloomy and depressing, but this is a much sweeter, more innocent and hopeful song, which is so endearing. The imagery is evocative and Johanna’s vocals are just perfect, especially when paired with the steel guitar.
“Decent Shades of Grey” is one of those songs that you feel like you remember your dad singing to you while playing an acoustic guitar when you were young. It really draws the listener back to the old ranch days where cowboys went a’wandering on their horses and life involved a lot of hard work but was still so satisfying. There’s a definite nostalgic feel to this one!
Soft strumming sets the scene for “Easy if You Try,” which is another track that has Johanna on lead vocals. While I was drawn once again to classic country music by this song (seriously, Johanna could easily hold a torch to classics like Tammy Wynette or Faith Hill), while Kathy was more reminded of ‘90s pop country in the styles of Sheryl Crow or Sara Evans. Who can turn down a gentle, encouraging track like this?
The beat picks up again with “Queen of the Green Island,” which seems to be a song about Ireland, as well as a woman, which is appropriately dressed up with some Irish instruments, giving it a bit of gusto. The song gives off a lot of nice imagery of both the woman the song celebrates, as well as Ireland itself. “In the Middle of Nowhere” is very breathy and slow, while maintaining that country twang. Kathy and I both live in varying degrees of ‘the middle of nowhere,’ so we easily related to the song, as it promotes the peacefulness of living or being outside of city life. It makes sense that I was confusing the band name for ‘Smalltown Players’ at first.
The album nears its close with “Philadelphia Jones,” which is a very gentle ballad that invokes the feeling of a film montage where a character has an insightful moment of reflection. The backing vocals also really help to make the chorus pop in the moments where they’re added. The final track then, “Skylarks in the Breeze,” puts a smile on my face as Finnish bands and singers seem to have a lot of songs and metaphors about birds. This one in particular is a great example of how less can be more with instruments, with the piano taking center stage and guitar coming in slowly and subtly later.
On the whole, this is a very gentle, folk-country-influenced album that is the sort of music you might need to relax to. Regardless of whether you’re visiting a North American ranch or a Finnish mökki [cabin], this is exactly the sort of tranquil music that doesn’t distract from the peace you find when you escape the city and spend some time outdoors, be it riding a horse or sitting by the shore, or with friends around a campfire. If you’re looking for something pleasant and calm as fall approaches, “Smalltime Players” might be exactly what the doctor ordered!
Tracklist
A Matter of Time
Didn’t Mean to Make You Cry
Back for More
Free Fallen Man
Dreams
Decent Shades of Gray
Easy if You Try
Queen of Green Island
In the Middle of Nowhere
Philadelphia Jones
Skylarks in the Breeze
Written by Bear Wiseman & Kathy Criswell
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