At the beginning of the new millennium, Iceland has emerged as the unlikely country where the new cultural and musical revolution is taking place. For such a small country to consistently produce bands and artists like Björk, Sigur Rós, Múm, and others, which continually push the boundaries, and still manage to sound gorgeous without going overboard on the experimentalism. This winning combination has put Iceland on the musical map, and produced a definite "Iceland sound" that people come to expect from bands that hail from the country.

Leaves formed in the Icelandic capital of Reykjavík, but that's where the musical similarity with other big Icelandic bands stops. Instead of swirling bursts of strings and masterful manipulation of electronic sounds, we have a much more conventional combination of guitar, bass, and drums. Not that there's anything wrong with that, you can't continue to produce post-rock forever, and sometimes you've just got to bring things back to basics.

Thematically, the sounds on "Breathe" are more reminiscent of England than they are of Iceland. Leaves have found themselves often compared to Coldplay, but there are still subtle differences in the sound. Essentially, Leaves are to Coldplay what Coldplay are to Radiohead. Epic choruses, faintly dark content matter, and falsetto vocals, but all packaged in a safer and less threatening form. It all faintly seems carefully calculated to appeal to music critics and the press, in an effort to gain fame through appealing to a few influential individuals.

That's not to say that Leaves aren't a talented band, or that the songwriting here is sub-par. The album moves from deep mood music (I Go Down) to epic synth-rock (Catch) to intimate piano ballads (Breathe). On their own, all of these songs are definitely pleasant enough to be listened to and enjoyed. The problem is that the record always plays it safe, there's nothing really bold or inventive enough to grab your attention.

Which is the problem with Breathe. It doesn't make any tragic missteps, but there is simply nothing here which will make you remember it. The music is just a little too bland, a little too unadventurous, and a little too similar to a lot of other bands who can play the game better.

At the beginning of the new millennium, Iceland has emerged as the unlikely country where the new cultural and musical revolution is taking place. For such a small country to consistently produce bands and artists like Björk, Sigur Rós, Múm, and others, which continually push the boundaries, and still manage to sound gorgeous without going overboard on the experimentalism. This winning combination has put Iceland on the musical map, and produced a definite "Iceland sound" that people come to expect from bands that hail from the country.

Leaves formed in the Icelandic capital of Reykjavík, but that's where the musical similarity with other big Icelandic bands stops. Instead of swirling bursts of strings and masterful manipulation of electronic sounds, we have a much more conventional combination of guitar, bass, and drums. Not that there's anything wrong with that, you can't continue to produce post-rock forever, and sometimes you've just got to bring things back to basics.

Thematically, the sounds on "Breathe" are more reminiscent of England than they are of Iceland. Leaves have found themselves often compared to Coldplay, but there are still subtle differences in the sound. Essentially, Leaves are to Coldplay what Coldplay are to Radiohead. Epic choruses, faintly dark content matter, and falsetto vocals, but all packaged in a safer and less threatening form. It all faintly seems carefully calculated to appeal to music critics and the press, in an effort to gain fame through appealing to a few influential individuals.

That's not to say that Leaves aren't a talented band, or that the songwriting here is sub-par. The album moves from deep mood music (I Go Down) to epic synth-rock (Catch) to intimate piano ballads (Breathe). On their own, all of these songs are definitely pleasant enough to be listened to and enjoyed. The problem is that the record always plays it safe, there's nothing really bold or inventive enough to grab your attention.

Which is the problem with Breathe. It doesn't make any tragic missteps, but there is simply nothing here which will make you remember it. The music is just a little too bland, a little too unadventurous, and a little too similar to a lot of other bands who can play the game better.