Lana Mir: Lana Mir

Lana Mir: Lana Mir
Growing up in Kiev, Ukraine, Lana Mir was musically creative but felt her creativity could not flourish in the former Soviet city. So like all good singer/songwriters, Mir moved to New York to “make it”. On her self-titled debut album, she injects retro Europop influences into her soft rock format.
The album’s lead single “Summertime” is one of the more upbeat numbers on the album but still shows the hushed fragility of Mir. The track is reminiscent of other modern-with-a-retro-flare chanteuses like Norah Jones and early Macy Gray. Musically, the song’s base is an acoustic guitar with light drums as accompaniment. The instrumentation gives the track a breezy summer feel but ultimately the song does nothing substantial.
Unfortunately, that is the way most of the LP feels to me. The album’s opening track “Say You Need Me” features bossa nova drums under some light acoustic guitar strumming. Vocally there does not appear to be anything challenging in the song and certainly the lyrical content is nothing overly emotional or special.
While Lana Mir is a pleasant enough album it is a wholly uninteresting. The album is best suited to be played while on hold with the cable company or in an elevator ride, situations where it is nice to put on something bland and relaxing.
Rating: 2.7/10
MP3: Lana Mir “Summertime”
Buy: iTunes