Cake on Cake
I guess I was daydreaming
Desolation Records
In the course of just two full-length CDs, Sweden's Cake on Cake, fronted by Helena Sundin, has managed to create one of the most instantly identifiable sounds in all of Scandinavia. Sundin's gently feminine voice, breezy childlike melodies and plethora of keyboards, create an honest-to-God authentic style, one that is hopeful, romantic and melancholy all at the same time. "I guess I was daydreaming", her sophomore effort, doesn't break that much new ground, although the instrumentation is richer. You're still offered a casual tour of Sundin's personal thoughts and musings, most of which concern the people in her life, the hopefulness of love ("You make my heart say yes"), and events that made her contemplate things more deeply ("The accident"). There are waltzes both sad and bright and plenty of innocent little ditties adorned by the simplest of rhythm tracks. Sundin sings like she's in a field of flowers, perhaps with a fawn or two watching from afar, but far from being cloying, she's a vital reminder of the value of pure, uncynical self-expression. This is an airy, soothing, gracefully melodic charmer of a record.
- Kevin Renick