Olivia Merilahti, one half of French/Finnish duo - The Dø, sets the tone of the album as her childlike vocals shout "We are - not crazy. We are not afraid of you adults!". "Playground Hustle", the first song off of their first full-length, A Mouthful, takes you on a journey on a map that leads you everywhere and nowhere at once. It is an adventure captained by the pirates who have marauded our ears for over an hour yet leave us craving more.



An album favorite, and the song that first made me take notice, "On My Shoulders" is a heartbreaking look at love that is just as good acoustic as it is remixed into a dance ballad.

Merilahti's voice pleads:

Why would I carry such a weight on my shoulders

Why do I always help you carry your boulders

You wonder why I carry such a weight on my shoulders

And why would I t-ttt such a load

Cos someday you’ll see next time I’ll try it another way

On the other side of the earth, you've got "Queen Dot Kong" which may as well have been a track on the cutting room floor of Lady Sovereign's Vertically Challenged EP. Originally this was a bit jarring - but after a few listens it is whimsical fun and can actually hold up against other MCs.

Other standout tracks on the album include "At Last", "Unissasi Laulelet" (which I don't understand in the slightest but it is beautiful and reminds me so much of my beloved Bjork I can't help but recommend it), "Travel Light" which has more of an edge than most of the tracks - and finally "Tammie" because it's like a totally foreign version of a Southern ho-down. What's not to love?



So far, this is on my top 10 albums of 2010 (in the US) so far...there are only 3 others on the list and we are well into April. All I can hope for is that they make their way to Chicago so I can give them the standing O they deserve.