Like previous efforts from
Tiger Lou,
The Loyal offers plenty of ambience but not much substance. The album, which is as bleak as it is beautiful, maintains the same themes, sounds, and tempos throughout. It's either atmospheric or repetitious, depending on perspective. There's nothing wrong with the musicianship --
Rasmus Kellerman, who plays nearly all of the instruments on each of the tracks (Pontus Levahn and Mathias Johansson help out on a few) and sings, is musically competent and capable, if not particularly inspired. The problem is that
The Loyal itself doesn't move. There's nothing particularly innovative -- not that there needs to be -- but the album doesn't offer much of anything other than a sense of mild to moderate malaise. This has all been done before (think
Coldplay), so it's a shame that
Tiger Lou feels a need to tread the same ground instead of exploring something new. ~ Katherine Fulton