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von Grey - Panophobia
by Kevin Wierzbicki
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Annika, Fiona, Petra and Kathryn von Grey certainly don't suffer from panophobia --- the fear of everything --- in fact they're quite fearless here as they expand their sound considerably. The girls still harmonize beautifully but they are less folksy on the six-track Panophobia where they also experiment with synths and electronic beats. A perfect example of the band's new style is "Say My Name;" the song is not to be confused with the Destiny's Child song of the same name but it does share that tune's appeal and like most of this effort seems to be designed to get pop radio airplay. To that end first single "Katie" succeeds big time; the yearning ballad with its hook-filled chorus is not so far off from the songs that were massive for Heart circa 1985. The sisters are all classically trained and between the four of them can play virtually any instrument and Panophobia is especially exciting in that it demonstrates that they're not going to be pigeonholed into one genre or sound, which bodes well for the future release of more material as strong as this.
von Grey - Panophobia
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