Why these tears?

I've said before how much I love Norwegian Idol winner Aleksander With's winner's single "A Little Too Perfect," a perfect upbeat pop song which still holds the title of my favorite winner's single (probably mainly because it deviates so much from the usual template). Much as I understand his desire to pursue more melancholy music after that, I've never been able to click with any of it as much as I wanted to based on that first single.



It's taken a few months, but "What's The Story," the lead single from his second album, might just have won me over. It continues Aleksander's pursuit of a more piano-pop-rock singer-songwriter sound that tries to struggle up from the emotional lows of life (rather than celebrating the highs like "A Little Too Perfect"). Most semi-ballads of this type that I fall for have some big sing-a-long moment, a swooning or keening release or a simple little hook; "What's The Story" doesn't really, though the chorus is strong enough, albeit in a subtle, restrained way, that you could sing along if you wanted to (what really does it for me is the little piano riff that accompanies each line of the chorus). As a result, it's not a song I could see on American radio, but (theoretically, not realistically) elsewhere in Europe, where life in a minor metaphorical key is more musically acceptable? Sure.

It may have taken a few months for my heartstrings to feel it, but mark them down as now officially tugged.

Aleksander With's single "What's The Story" is available for purchase here (digital).