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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
It's been a good year for Swedish music.
I seem to have found myself listening to
quite a bit of it recently.
Lisa Ekdahl has been around for a while.
Her self-titled debut appeared in 1994
and she has continued to produce a solid
body of work since then.
Her last album 'Parlor Av Glas' (2006) is full of
quirky delights sung in her Mother tongue.
I intend no disrespect to her or her people but
Swedish pop sung in Swedish is an aquired taste.
The words and music seem to be in a constant
awkward struggle to belong together.
(The abundance of guttural consonants perhaps?)
Her new album 'Give Me That Slow Knowing Smile'
is a collection of nine songs, all sung in English.
Perhaps this is a bid to break free of national
boundaries and to reach a wider listening world.
If so, her decision has been a good one.
This is charming, elusive and curiously affecting stuff.
Ms Ekdahl has an unusual voice. Fragile yet focussed;
its limitations, however, are artfully transcended.
(I'm not generally one for comparisons but there is more
than a whiff of Ms Wainwright in the air from time to time).
Opening (and title) track 'Give Me That Slow Knowing Smile'
is a lazy, melancholic blues-tinged composition teased
along by incidental whistling (I am a BIG fan of whistling
of any kind!), cheap electric organ and the first appearance
of her winter-wonderland choir.
'I Don't Mind' has a harmonica solo and you don't hear
that too often these days. It is a lovely song with an
uplifting, head-in-the-air, sing-along chorus.
Many of the arrangements are wonderfully weird.
Listen to the ensemble of gospel elves on
'I'll Be Around' for immediate ellucidation.
It is a strangely moving confection.
Voice and music work well together; the trumpet solo
is a simple and well considered decoration.
'One Life' is a song of naive but simple humanist hope.
The musical saw, whistling (again) and disembodied chorus
create a highly distinctive and captivating sound-world.
'Don't Stop' is another enchanting musical idea driven
gently along by a slightly de-tuned upright piano.
(I found myself imagining it being played by a partially
drunken gnome with a nicotine stained beard!).
Final track 'Beautiful Boy' is a stripped-down affair.
Electric guitar, bass, organ, violin and voice build slowly
to create an emotionally restrained and memorable ending.
Ms Ekdahl and her talented friends have given life
to something quite magical with this fine album.
Highly Recommended.
I seem to have found myself listening to
quite a bit of it recently.
Lisa Ekdahl has been around for a while.
Her self-titled debut appeared in 1994
and she has continued to produce a solid
body of work since then.
Her last album 'Parlor Av Glas' (2006) is full of
quirky delights sung in her Mother tongue.
I intend no disrespect to her or her people but
Swedish pop sung in Swedish is an aquired taste.
The words and music seem to be in a constant
awkward struggle to belong together.
(The abundance of guttural consonants perhaps?)
Her new album 'Give Me That Slow Knowing Smile'
is a collection of nine songs, all sung in English.
Perhaps this is a bid to break free of national
boundaries and to reach a wider listening world.
If so, her decision has been a good one.
This is charming, elusive and curiously affecting stuff.
Ms Ekdahl has an unusual voice. Fragile yet focussed;
its limitations, however, are artfully transcended.
(I'm not generally one for comparisons but there is more
than a whiff of Ms Wainwright in the air from time to time).
Opening (and title) track 'Give Me That Slow Knowing Smile'
is a lazy, melancholic blues-tinged composition teased
along by incidental whistling (I am a BIG fan of whistling
of any kind!), cheap electric organ and the first appearance
of her winter-wonderland choir.
'I Don't Mind' has a harmonica solo and you don't hear
that too often these days. It is a lovely song with an
uplifting, head-in-the-air, sing-along chorus.
Many of the arrangements are wonderfully weird.
Listen to the ensemble of gospel elves on
'I'll Be Around' for immediate ellucidation.
It is a strangely moving confection.
Voice and music work well together; the trumpet solo
is a simple and well considered decoration.
'One Life' is a song of naive but simple humanist hope.
The musical saw, whistling (again) and disembodied chorus
create a highly distinctive and captivating sound-world.
'Don't Stop' is another enchanting musical idea driven
gently along by a slightly de-tuned upright piano.
(I found myself imagining it being played by a partially
drunken gnome with a nicotine stained beard!).
Final track 'Beautiful Boy' is a stripped-down affair.
Electric guitar, bass, organ, violin and voice build slowly
to create an emotionally restrained and memorable ending.
Ms Ekdahl and her talented friends have given life
to something quite magical with this fine album.
Highly Recommended.
Format:Audio CD
I came across Lisa Ekdahl by chance, and I'm so glad I did. She has a unique and beautiful voice, and the songs are sooooo pretty!! They get in your head, but I don't mind as they're lovely :)
I'd recommend this to anyone!
I'd recommend this to anyone!
Format:Audio CD
Swedish Lisa Ekdahl is largely unknown in the UK but has made a dozen or so albums, this being the 4th in English I believe. Her voice is tiny, whispery and childlike yet very versatile which is why her previous albums have been in different genres - samba, jazz trio, world music etc. This one is a lot more difficult to categorise and for the first time in my opinion she has created her own sound and for the mostpart is very successful.
The title track is too repetitive for my liking and doesn't impress. I Don't Mind is not fantastic either. I'll Be Around however is a classic song that sounds familiar on first listening. One Life is also brilliant. The World Keeps Turning has a great chorus too. Don't Stop has an easy going beat. When is a great tune but needs a better lyric to keep it in your head. Sing is anthemic with an unexpected and lovely flute solo at the end. Beautiful Boy has a really nice guitar sound on it, has a great chorus but just misses out on being a great song.
Any of this album could be played on Radio 2 without complaint and I could almost hear a few tracks - I'll Be Around, One Life for instance - being sung by Mick Jagger. The lyrics are not as obvious and innocent as you might expect and the whole album is quite short, which is always a bonus for me.
This is not as good as "Sings Salvadore Poe" which is one of my favourite albums, but it is a welcome return to form from an overlooked artist who is now reaching musical maturity. If you like this sort of easy listening stuff, then give it a go. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
The title track is too repetitive for my liking and doesn't impress. I Don't Mind is not fantastic either. I'll Be Around however is a classic song that sounds familiar on first listening. One Life is also brilliant. The World Keeps Turning has a great chorus too. Don't Stop has an easy going beat. When is a great tune but needs a better lyric to keep it in your head. Sing is anthemic with an unexpected and lovely flute solo at the end. Beautiful Boy has a really nice guitar sound on it, has a great chorus but just misses out on being a great song.
Any of this album could be played on Radio 2 without complaint and I could almost hear a few tracks - I'll Be Around, One Life for instance - being sung by Mick Jagger. The lyrics are not as obvious and innocent as you might expect and the whole album is quite short, which is always a bonus for me.
This is not as good as "Sings Salvadore Poe" which is one of my favourite albums, but it is a welcome return to form from an overlooked artist who is now reaching musical maturity. If you like this sort of easy listening stuff, then give it a go. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
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