Single review: Ida Maria – Queen Of The World

“Queen Of the World” is Ida Maria’s second big-label single from an album scheduled to emerge in the summer, and it pretty much encapsulates Ida’s balance of pop hooks and punk honesty.

Ida Maria’s endearing heart-on-the-sleeve approach to songwriting matches her madcap delivery perfectly; “Queen Of The World” is a song about alcohol (something Ida is remarkably fond of), and the feeling of omnipotence a good session on the suds can create. Songs about booze are ten a penny, but “Queen Of The World” is a world away from the macho paeans to drunkenness that the AC/DC’s of the world tend to deliver.

For a start, Ida Maria’s style is pure pop, through and through – simple melodies jangled out on the guitar, uncomplicated structure and effortless pace, plus her kooky confessional lyrics and singing. “Queen Of The World” is a song about bravado, but it’s not an example of bravado; it’s freshly feminine in a tomboyish sort of way.

My opinion may be slightly tainted by my confessed weakness for beautiful and slightly crazed nihilist Scandinavian girls, but I’d advance Ida Maria as one of the few artists making genuine indie pop music at the moment; she’s genuine, contradictory, fun-loving and introspective, and totally free of the artless character-theatre of the NME bands. Three minutes of uncomplicated bliss; “Queen Of the World” is the sound of a girl reaching for the crown she deserves.