Chris DeLine

The Tiny are a collective that came about through a decisive decision to abandon a life of safety and discover the full capabilities of band members’ creativity. And that is simply what makes The Tiny such a special group, its members’ willingness to experiment. Throughout the course of “Starring; Someone Like You” there is a completely unorthodox mixture of instruments used which makes for a delightful listen. Ranging from the typical piano and violin, the band also ventures into the unconventional, using a musical saw, toy piano and wind chimes to create a wonderful musical experience.

One has to interpret the lyrical tone of the album as that of a capture and release story. There isa theme of ever-longing for something more, whether it be yourself, or those around you, but a constant message is that of being incomplete. “Kind of Like You” immediately starts this impressive venture into uneasy relationships. It brings about emotions of commonly throwing away love on whatever or whoever may be around you in the hope of finding something or someone worthy of such emotion.

“Know Your Demons” is one of my favorite song on the album, both musically and lyrically as it offers a differentiation of tone and beat, while continuing the album’s theme. “Know tour demons, they know you, wherever you go, they go too,” becomes a line that is essential when understanding the remainder of the album. The musical differentiation comes near the end of the track, where there is either a blossoming of noise or a deterioration of the song, depending how you approach it. A positive and more likely approach is taking it as a blossoming of innocence, as the song becomes a primary school sing along, with a visceral clashing of drums and variety of tones.

The remainder of the album touches on Scandinavian soul, up-tempo violin that seems to chase you and Ed Harcourt, as found with his contribution on “Sorry.” While there are a great many different musical tangents, the album generally broods, but rather than burning out at the end, to use the quote, it merely fades away. In doing so however, the album creates an environment which musters nothing less than a curiosity for more from the listener. The Tiny are experimental, but not for the sake of merely doing so, and avoiding a mainstream sound or audience. Rather, the sound and message which emanate are a product of internal factors, a need to produce art, and in a sense, take the road less traveled. In this, the band does nothing but succeed.

[This post was first published by Culture Bully.]