Sondre Lerche By Sondre Lerche

Criminally overlooked in the mainstream, Norwegian songwriter Sondre Lerche has been quietly following the beat of his own drum for nearly ten years. With an untimely affinity for Tin Pan Alley era pop melodies and influences ranging from Brazilian Tropicalia to 70‘s power pop, Lerche could be considered this generations closest thing to Harry Nilsson.

A musician’s songwriter, his chord progressions and off kilter rhythms tell as much of a story in his songs as his characteristically witty and insightful lyrics. Known for surprising his fans, he has become a true pop-chameleon crafting albums that share little in common from release to release.

Unlike some of his more experimental forays, that have almost seemed like exercises in testing his own limits, his newest self-titled release comes as a breath of fresh air and is his most enjoyable album since 2007’s power-pop album, Phantom Punch. Doing what he does best, the songs on this record rely heavily on the strength of their melodies, most of which are some of the strongest of Lerche’s career.

The album’s arrangements prove to be much more stripped-down that his last effort, Heartbeat Radio, but could hardly be described as generic, packing the tricky and pleasant surprises he has been known to spring on his listeners when they are not paying attention. Sonic left turns burst out of the most docile moments creating a release that is almost as mysterious as it is pleasing to listen to.

Sondre Lerche’s voice is tremendous here as he flows effortlessly from his emotive croon to confidant bravado track after track. Much like his last release, Sondre Lerche shows that he has started to understand the value of making albums that draw from all of his strong points, as he has written a collection of sweet ballads as well as tuneful up-beat numbers that help make up a cohesive and well rounded effort.

Songs such as the stand-out “Private Caller” and the delightfully bizarre “Go Right Ahead” display Sondre Lerche wearing his Elvis Costello spectacles snuggly, while the Plastic Ono Band-era slow burning stomp of “Tied to the Tide” provides one of his most charismatic and captivating vocal performances to date. The album proves to be a one stop introduction into the thought process of a tremendous pop architect and gifted song-writer.

The best moments however, are the ones that sneak up and floor you. With the closer “When the River,” Lerche weaves a breezy pop number that builds slowly within the verses until it unleashes into a locking disco rhythm that doesn‘t let you go until its final chords. This album is full of moments like this. Times where you scratch your head, and realize you can only applaud the man for making you believe that nothing is impossible and that pop records really don’t have to be boring after all.