Robert Svensson
You're a wasteland, honey
Nomethod
I could easily sum this review up in one sentence: Robert Svensson has crafted the best record of 2010.
As I sneak up on thirty, I worry, much more so than in my younger years, that whatever visceral, overpowering connection I once had with music is slipping -- the records that were going to tear right into me have already done so; everything else is going to be an echo of those experiences. "You're a wasteland, honey", however, tore right into me. Listening to the record, I couldn't help but remember falling in love with Bruce Springsteen's "Born to run" in the mid-'90s while my peers at British boarding school were enraptured by Brit Pop, though this parallels my experience with Robert Svensson's most recent offering, it doesn't mock the occasion.
While I enjoyed Svensson's "Beat EP", I worried that it signaled his future trajectory, with bands such as Bloc Party already demonstrating how the allure of electronic music can unravel even the most talented of musicians. "You're a wasteland, honey", thankfully, is the fitting follow up to Svensson's fantastic debut, "Young punks are on the never-never". Everything I enjoyed about that first record is improved upon with "...wasteland". It's been a while since the release of a record that after the fifth or sixth listen I am not just skipping to my favorite tracks, often leaving more than half of the album behind; there is nothing to leave behind here. The record is effortlessly brilliant throughout, demonstrating how Svensson's many strengths and talents have developed since his gorgeous "Young punks..". Hands down, this is the record of the year, and the first in a while, perhaps since Laakso's "My gods" or Shout Out Louds' "Our ill wills", that has made such a profound impact on me.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
