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How Beauty Holds the Hand of Sorrow Image
Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 6 Critic Reviews What's this?

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  • Summary: This is the second full-length release in 2020 for the Sweden-based Norwegian singer-songwriter.
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  • Record Label: Balloon Ranger Recordings
  • Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Contemporary Singer/Songwriter, Alternative Singer/Songwriter
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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 6
  2. Negative: 0 out of 6
  1. Nov 30, 2020
    100
    Opening track Last Breath is worth the price of the record alone. It provides the album’s title, all the more poetic when encountered in the grief-stricken context of the song: “I didn’t understand how beauty holds the hands of sorrow / How today can outshine tomorrow.” The production here is wonderful, with crystal clear dynamics and a real contrast between intimate and sublime.
  2. Nov 30, 2020
    80
    Playing piano and acoustic guitar, the 44-year-old takes listeners on a bittersweet journey balancing the melancholy of the medium with a healing message. Stand out songs Closer and Lose My Way have a meditative sadness but there is real warmth in choral backing vocals, subtle grooves and Brun’s melodic instincts.
  3. Uncut
    Nov 30, 2020
    80
    The sparer treatments on How Beauty Holds the Hand of Sorrow make for something more enthralling, partially because of how much the largely piano-and-vocal arrangements evoke the crystalline beauty of Brun's early albums. [Jan 2021, p.23]
  4. Nov 30, 2020
    78
    Brun has such control of her craft, and that is made brightly plain across these two albums [After The Great Storm & How Beauty Holds The Hand Of Sorrow]. Which one you prefer will likely depend on which genre or style you have deeper inclination for, but taken together, they’re both excellent representations of an artist honing her tested and true style while also venturing out into new waters, easily proving just how capable she is along the way.
  5. 75
    As Brun has demonstrated over these last two records, whether experimenting or sticking closer to home, she remains essential listening.
  6. Mojo
    Nov 30, 2020
    60
    It occasionally drifts away but with a subtle pillowy beat or piano, Brun holds it together beautifully. [Jan 2021, p.85]
Score distribution:
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