Iiro Rantala: My Working Class Hero | Album Review

Finnish pianist Iiro Rantala is a titan of the keyboard who can dazzle and delight with a flick of his wrist, but the hero of the title turns out to be John Lennon, and, in transferring Lennon’s simple, at times almost naive, melodies to the piano, Rantala checks his technique at the door and goes for pared-down simplicity.

Songs like Norwegian Wood, (Just Like) Starting Over, and Woman are delivered with palpable sincerity and minimal harmonic substitution, giving the whole album a folksy, accessible feel.

Shorn of their lyrics, tunes like Imagine and Happy Xmas (War Is Over) lose perhaps some of their power, but Rantala compensates with a brooding intensity which repays closer attention and reveals that all is not as simple and straightforward as it first appears.

[ actmusic.com ]