Fernando: Enter to Exit

Listening to Fernando’s latest is an exercise in both patience and discovery. Although he excels at offering some über-brilliant pop rock gems, a la Teenage Fanclub or, hell, The Beatles for that matter, the act is just as proficient at stalling its own momentum by drowning its album’s roster with too many dreary ballads and meandering melodies.

Launching with the fantastic “Howard Hughes,” the twelve-track Enter to Exit enters with striking promise, further bolstered by “The Reluctant Deity.” But as the album gets into its core it becomes more languid and faceless. Enter the patience.

Fernando is very convincing on the four-on-the-floor sunshine pop of “Everybody Knows,” but pristine gems like those are unfortunately the minority on this release: finding ‘em requires a fair amount of effort. A bit more bang for the buck could make this decent album resoundingly better.

– Waleed Rashid
Fernando (In Music We Trust)