Label: Twentyseven Records
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With the follow-up to "Everything now", Pelle Carlberg shows again his master touch with lush, reverberating pop songs; horns, strings, harmonies, the works. He's been known to tread ground dangerously close to the Go-Betweens, and "In a nutshell" is no exception. Instead of drifting across land and sea to Australia however, there's enough unique flair to keep his latest effort grounded at home. These acoustic guitar-driven songs, with threads of 60's British folk woven throughout, will no doubt appeal to seasoned listeners of Edson, and his solo work as well. The production values seem to be getting thicker, but hopefully the reins will be held back, lest his songs lose their charm. On this disc, nothing is lost, on the other hand not much is gained. His songwriting will no doubt continue to develop, and it will be interesting to see what comes next.
- Paul Bredenberg
This is the debut record from Edson's frontman and singer/songwriter and, not surprisingly, it sounds a lot like Edson. The groove is still gentle and soothing, the instrumentation simple, the vocals sublimely beautiful, and the lyrics still walk that fine line between sharp wit and tender insight. He's a classic Labrador act - high quality and almost-but-not-quite-too twee - but there's really no one out there who sounds like he does: a Sinatra for the midtempo indie set. At times he's a bit too over the top - "Go to hell, Miss Rydell", a song about repeated rebuffed attempts to contact a reviewer who panned his record, is a funny first listen but grows tiresome after a few rotations. He's got songs about compulsive shopping -- the catchy "Riverbank" takes on buyer's remorse and is considerably more fun musically than "Telemarketing", about someone who "can't say no to a human voice." But it's the empathy with which he inhabits characters like the sad sack singing "Telemarketing" that bring the record its warmth, reached most effectively on songs like "Oh no! It's happening again", which captures that moment when a romantic quarrel escalates into a fight that dooms the relationship, or "Mind the gap", where he yearns to give money to the beggar on the London tube and questions the opportunities his son's school offers that less privileged kids don't get. It's not the perfect album he could make if he'd tone down the silly and stick with the catchy poignant, but it's a very nice listen with high points high enough to carry the weaker songs and a warm glow that goes perfectly with coffee on the cold grey mornings that lie before us.
- Nancy Baym
This veteran group is currently in its second week atop the Swedish college radio charts [ed: as of last week when this review was written], and for good reason. "Sing along with..." is a set of finely crafted pop gems with earnest--sometimes painfully earnest--boy/girl vocals. There's a light-but-heartfelt quality to the proceedings, spurred on by romanticism in the style of 60s popular music, not current emo suburban angst. Although Belle and Sebastian comparisons are likely, Acid House Kings sound more like The Association or The Left Banke fronted by a girl next door (in this case Julia Lannerheim) with a voice similar to that of St. Etienne's Sarah Cracknell. The snappy "Tonight is forever" succeeds in its simplicity. Vocals on the chorus bounce between trumpets and violins: "We are the city life/tonight is forever/until the lights go out/I'm glad you're here with me/tonight." The slower, acoustic "Saturday train" benefits from Lannerheim's sleepy delivery, while "London school of economics" gets stuck in a plodding rut. The standout here is "This heart is a stone" which blends Lannerheim's sunny voice with tambourine, finger snaps and a xylophone, among other instruments. Lyrics about the heart that would come across as ridiculous or ironic in other hands sound absolutely genuine in this case. And the band takes the album title seriously; a karaoke DVD comes with the set, so you really can sing along with these Swedes. There's no doubt that the music of Acid House Kings is polarizing. Those turned off by too many handclaps, too many bittersweet choruses and too many frightfully innocent lyrics will not like this record. Anyone on the other side of that line, however (anyone who usually likes Labrador bands, frankly), should snap up this title immediately. Vocal and instrumental abilities aside, the group's best talent is in the creation of melodies so catchy you'll swear you've heard them before, and you'll hum them all day even after you realize you haven't.
- Matthew W. Smith