Lykke Li - Youth Novels

By: Kendall | in: Music |

What happens when a young Swedish woman decides that it is no acceptable for a woman of 20 years old to have a record? She starts working with Bjorn Yttling (of Peter Bjorn and John), and over a 10 month stretch, something seductively innocent is ready to be released on August 19th. Youth Novels is the full album due on that date to follow up the EP released this past may.

In Northern Europe as a child, Lykke’s Parents decided one rainy winter to leave the city, and move to the country. Not long after they sold everything they owned, moved to Portugal, where they built a house in a small village in the mountains. Later the family mobes to Lisbon, and back again to Sweden. Every year their after, they would leave during the winter to India, to escape the gloom. That’s a lot of moving, and a lot of influence to pull from. The beats accompanying each track are fairly primal, but give nods to the euro-electric sound consistantly. Her vocals come from a place that can’t be place that sounds as nomadic as her life, but innocent enough to seem untainted. this is a pop record in almost every sense of the word, but it’s more stripped than most, and honestly more interesting.

“Breaking It Up Is a song about breaking up, and it doesn’t sound like she’s the one doing the deed. The chorus is swarmed with almost chant like sing-alongs during the reluctant chorus. If you’ve heard of Lykke LI before, you probably heard the track “Little Bit” from her EP, which has deservedly found it’s way onto the full album. If you haven’t seen the odd video for this track, it adds to the mystique of the song quite well. “Dance, Dance, Dance” has a loose groovy baseline to draw you in, and the snare drum rum-tum-tums periodically in with minute rolls. Saxaphone winds it’s way through the bridge, giving the 80’s sounding production an international mowtown feel (does that make any sense?). “Tonight” is a reverb drenched heart breaker, and the desperation bleeds through.

“I don’t think I’ll ever be satisfied and calm”

“Even now I wonder how I’m going to live a whole lifetime feeling how I do now..”

Those quotes sum up the feeling of the album pretty well.

Official Video - “Little Bit”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUC0ezAlHwE

Official Video - “I’m Good, I’m Gone”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngd45o-M_M4

“Tonight” w/accompanying photos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlpgNsJsNKI

[Subscribe to this feed]

Posted on August 18, 2008