This Is Stina Nordenstam
was received with relief by critics when it was released in 2001. After two difficult albums -- one exceedingly dark and distorted and the other full of experimental covers --
Nordenstam
had returned with a modern
pop
album. And to further stress that it was
this time,
Brett Anderson
from
Suede
participated on a couple of tracks. The sound of the album still has some in common with the sound of the cover album
People Are Strange
, applied on original material this time, but everything is more straightforward and the environmental noises are left out. If
was twisting popular melodies, breaking them up, and leaving them as experimental compositions, this is more like dressing that same experimental sound in popular melodies. The album also has quite much in common with
's critically acclaimed
And She Closed Her Eyes
from 1994, though the beat is more marked this time. But if more accessible than the former two albums and including tracks like
"Lori Glory,"
which was even played on the radio,
This Is
in some ways feels like a step backwards. It doesn't have the sheer emotional effect that
had, and in leaving out some of the things that made
difficult, it also left out some of its beauty. But that said,
is a very unusual
album, and its only major drawback is that
herself has used the same elements to better results before. ~ Lars Loven