Sondre Lerche
Phantom punch
EMI
"Phantom punch" finds Sondre Lerche again not only giving his backing band The Faces Down title credit, but delivering some of his most uptempo material to date. This is where the album succeeds - finely tuned pop gems such as the stellar "Say it all" and "John, let me go" are two of the best tracks I've heard from Mr. Lerche; whilst the stylised punk of "Face the blood" initially came off as a bit of a shocker at such a high-tempo, it fits perfectly in the scheme of the album. While steeped heavily in pop, it's good to see an artist bring in other elements. Coupled with the loose-feeling arrangments, the band is allowed to convey their music at a level that was missing on the more polished "Duper sessions".
- Matt Giordano