Review: KEiiNO - Monument

KEiiNO is a Norwegian supergroup consisting of rapper Fred Buljo, and singers Alexandra Rotan and Tom Hugo. They combined just to win Eurovision, winning the audience votes in 2019, but losing the competition. Now, they are trying to win the show this year, and currently are favorites to win the Norwegian competition to enter the show.

Monument is co-written by Buljo and Rotan, and brings back that heavy ambition missing in modern pop music. The song opens with Buljo ad-libbing (joiking) with the atmosphere building until Rotan starts singing. These two do most of the stuff in this song. The instrumental builds, and instead of a drop, we get a full-fledged, ambitious, chorus.

Strings drive the whole thing, with the addition of a strong percussive base. Rotan sings it, with Hugo assisting, with a little break taken in the middle for Buljo to joik. While this is a KEiiNO trademark, the Buljo joik give just the uniqueness needed for the song to thrive.

The second verse gives Buljo a full rap verse, which he easily dominates, before cleverly skipping a pre-chorus, jumping right into the ambitious chorus.

For the bridge, Buljo chants some rap-lines, while Rotan gives a massive high-note (which gives Hugo his only solo line through the whole song), all culminating in the final chorus.

Once again, a longer length would push Monument up to an even higher peak. Still, it stands as a strong contender in Eurovision.

Rating: 9/10

Image Source: Eurovoix