Timo Räisänen
Love will turn you around
Razzia Records
While not flawless, "Love will turn you around" has already solidified its placement as a record that will receive heavy rotation in my stereo this autumn. There are a few stumbles as Räisänen's more eccentric qualities overpower his usually solid deliveries - "Spill your beans" is far from awful, it just doesn't sit as solidly in the tracklist as the majority of the other compositions do, and makes for a bizarre transition between the heavy, dark delivery of "Sunday" and the softer "Stop rocking the boat" (which, for whatever reason, reminds me of those brilliant early tracks from Ben Folds Five); and "I wash my mouth with soap before I go" could easily be removed from the album without causing much fuss. "Love will turn you around" synthesizes the complicated optimism present in both Swedish indierock and bands like Pavement and, to some extent, Weezer - "Valentine" establishing this talent early on - and yet doesn't shy away from the shadows or more distortion saturated approaches as "Sunday" attests. "Michael" has quickly become my favorite Timo Räisänen song, ousting "Sweet Marie" and "Fear no darkness, promised child" with it's nearly immaculate craftsmanship and delivery, and is almost worth the price alone. The true power of this album is its appeal to a broad spectrum of listeners - as comparable to Shout Out Louds as it is to Laakso or The Bear Quartet - and what could be more important as the days shorten and grow colder than a solid collection of idiosyncratic, yet ultimately hopeful indie anthems?
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
