Frankie Cosmos: Close It Quietly Album Review

By Shane Willenborg
Local Music Journalist

Artist: Frankie Cosmos

Album: Close It Quietly

Release date: Sept. 6, 2019

Managing to stand out in the heavily saturated genre of bedroom pop, Greta Kline, performing as Frankie Cosmos, is well known for her endearing and bite-sized melodies. Kline’s music easily personifies life in your early twenties by exploring the feelings associated with the reality of early adulthood. This relatable attitude and style carry over to Close It Quietly. Only now, Kline has a full band supporting her in the studio and onstage. 

“Close It Quietly” shows off the bands new, more fleshed out sound, right off the bat with “Moonsea.” Kline’s soft-sung vocals greet the listener before they are enveloped in the sound of watery guitar, keys and double time drums. This new, more-developed sound stays true to the style of Cosmos while filling up a room like never before.

The new width of Cosmos’s sound is heavily put on display on songs like “So Blue”, “Rings (On A Tree)” and “I’m It.” The band backing Kline’s vocals is a welcome addition in my book, adding a bit of light distortion that was previously unheard of coming from Cosmos. 

Even with the newfound confidence of a full band, Cosmos still manages to deliver touching and sensitive messages about depression and the problems associated with coming of age. Kline’s casual style is what has always set her music apart; Close It Quietly deals with heavy issues but in a laid back and irreverent tone. The first words of the album, “The world is crumbling and I don’t have much to say” is a perfect allusion to the attitude of this album and Cosmos’s tone in general. 

Close It Quietly feels like a refinement in Kline’s songwriting skills. Each song trims the fat that might be found in albums by other artists, while still filling the album with quirky little hooks that stick in your head for days on end. I find myself humming the track “Rings (On A Tree)” while sitting in class, admiring the clever lyrics and perfectly subtle guitar. 

Cosmos’s latest release follows Kline’s propensity to write short, no nonsense tracks, with the longest song on the album, “Wannago”, barely hitting the three minute mark. It’s this brevity that really attracts me to Frankie Cosmos’s music; each song leaves me wanting just a little bit more. It’s as if each song presents an idea and then immediately leaves the audience to mull it over. Close It Quietly is not an enormous departure from the band’s usual formula, but still fresh enough to recommend to any fans of Kline’s previous work.