If you’re going to make an album then you might as well make it a personal one and that would appear to be what Thomas Charlie Pedersen – one half of the duo Vinyl Floor with his brother Charlie - has done with his album “Employees Must Wash Their Hands”.
He seems to have plenty to reflect on with no less than 15 songs being included here that cover all the colours of the chromatically keyed emotional rainbow from the straightforward, and seriously abbreviated, sentimentality of “Beach in Vietnam” to the altogether more spiritual “Rains of Saturn” with numerous deviations into more existential times for artistic inspiration. There is, accordingly, much of benefit to be gained from careful consideration of his heartfelt, and often quite poetic, words even if those who seek the simplicity of a smile will most likely be disappointed by the clear and present seriousness. With that said, I can’t really argue with Thomas Charlie Pedersen’s intent when it has been executed in a musically meaningful way.
“Employees Must Wash Their Hands” is therefore an album that might well grow on you.