Tika Chases The Cold Away

Put a few musicians in a cabin for a while and maybe nice things will happen. That's in short the idea behind 'In A Cabin With'. It lead to nice and surprising combinations in the past. This time it was Moss' Marien Dorleijn and El Pino & The Volunteers' David Pino. They headed to La Peche in Canada and moved into a cabin in the bitter cold. Assisted by local musicians from the Canadian music scene and a black Labrador, named Tika. The result is now out on the album In A Cabin With. The duo call themselves Tika, yes indeed, named after the loyal dog...

Tika - In A Cabin With (Ronald Says 8 out of 10)

The combination between Dorleijn and Pino may not be a surprising one, but it is a logical one. The styles of both bands are not far apart and they both belong to the Excelsior group that produces interesting combinations more often. And it does result in nice music as hoped for. The voices of both men are colouring nicely and the harmonies are beautiful. Especially when Dorleijn with his characteristic voice takes the lead and Pino is supporting it. What's striking is that it all sounds familiar and convincing. As if the two musicians have been playing and recording for years.

The songs themselves are perfectly fine as well as can be expected. Some have been kept small and sound, maybe because of the freezing cold, intense and thin ('Hardware Store') or even threatening ('Guest House'). The songs are supported in a minimal way; smouldering like the last log in the fireplace. Other songs are full of fire or sound warm and friendly ('My Little Truth'). With a song like 'Different Shades of White' that remarkably sounds summery, it's nice to just dream away. Plenty of variation in those ten songs I'd say.

Again the In A Cabin With project succeeded in putting together a nice collaboration. It results in strong and varying songs, despite the fact that the choice of the musicians isn't that surprising and quite obvious. It may be a confirmation of how rich the Dutch music scene is in this segment. With an open approach and by stimulating musicians and enabling them to express their creativity, it is even getting more rich. Just take a look at the Happy Camper project or the collaboration between Roosbeef and Torre Florim in De Speeldoos. And now the more than successful Tika.

This review has been published on ROAR E-Zine in Dutch over here.

Official Website In A Cabin With