It’s been making waves on the web for a while, listen to Swedish singer Lykke Li’s debut album ‘Youth Novels’ while it’s hot! The Dodo’s are worth a spin if you want something even more mellow.
New Romantic: Lykke Li ‘Youth Novels’
Li sings in an absent, ‘I’m-not-even-aware-I’m-doing-this’ style that transcends sexy. Meanwhile, a beat box shuffles and synthesisers add sparse melodic touches. ‘Youth Novels’ has an overall atmosphere of muted euphoria with a melancholic aftertaste. Very New Romantic, in a way.
You can hear the New Romantics influence on ‘Little Bit’ with it’s chorus like a stripped down, skeletal version of Spandau Ballet.
At other times, Li sounds like a feistier version of Nouvelle Vague covering New Order or the Punk Pop of the Dead Boys on ‘Dance, Dance, Dance’ and ‘Melodies & Desires’ respectively.
A curious album that will appeal to mainstream folks and more serious musos at the same time.
Listen Here to LykkeLi’s debut ‘Youth Novels’ and download the album from iTunes.
If you’d like to hear complete, unabridged versions of Lykke Li’s coolest tunes, please check her MySpace profile.
Slow Set: The Dodos ‘Visiter’
‘Visiter’ is a collection of folky, largely acoustic tunes. Often whimsical, occasionally too soft. Yet, a touch of frewheeling rock’n'roll spirit sets The Dodos apart from the glut of singer-songwriters.
You have to be good to play acoustic music without sounding like a whinge muppet. It helps if you are a bit psycho or streetwise. Strictly speaking, The Dodos aren’t either. But they have that looseness that sounds like they are ‘hanging with friends on the street corner’ rather than trying very hard in a recording studio. It’s not often that they raise their voices, but they can if they have to.
From a vocal point of view, ‘Undeclared’ is the most assertive song here. ‘Jody’ is my favourite number on the album. A laid back affair with simple drums that could be at home on a Jonathan Richman album. ‘Paint The Rust’ boasts some neat jangly guitar work showing that The Dodo’s can crank it up a level or two if needed. More of that, and ‘Visiter’ would have been a very fine album indeed.
Listen Here to ‘Visiter’ and download the album from iTunes.
