Intuition

Album Review

Depending on what type of artist you are in the mood for, Scandinavian dance-pop can be anything from bubblegum to haunting — and this debut album by the Danish team of producer/songwriter DJ Encore (whose real name is Andreas Hemmeth) and singer Engelina definitely falls into the latter category. There is nothing cutesy or bubblegum about Intuition; this isn't the type of music that Aqua (the Scandinavian group who did "Barbie Girl") is making fun of on their very fun and ironic parody of Europop. The songs on this CD, which came out in Europe before being released in the U.S. in January 2002, have an intoxicating, dreamy quality — and Engelina shows herself to be an expressive vocalist on high-tech Euro-dance items like "Walking in the Sky," "Another Day," and "I See Right Through to You" (which was a major hit in Denmark). Although Encore and Engelina are both from Copenhagen — where Danish is the official language — all of the lyrics on this CD are in English, which isn't unusual for Danish artists. In Denmark's public school system, students are encouraged to become fluent in English; consequently, it isn't surprising that Engelina is able to sing and write in perfect English. To their credit, Encore and Engelina (who co-wrote most of the material) don't provide songs that lose their magic away from a club setting — those who aren't into dancing and don't consider themselves club hounds will have no problem sitting down and listening to this memorable CD. Intuition is easily recommended to those who like their dance-pop with a strong European flavor.