Lykke Li - This summer's biggest hit?

these very sad songs are extremely sunlit

While I feel glad she's ditched a lot of the twee affectations from her first two albums, I wish she had written some stronger hooks. This is nice enough but I listened to it twice in a row and I'm struggling to remember anything about it other than it could with some drums and more dynamicism in the songwriting. Hopefully now she's got the break-up ballads out her system she can make an album that's a bit more rounded - I'm not saying she would ever suit confrontational abrasiveness but the mature swagger (well, comparative at least) of Wounded Rhymes suited her better.

Pretty much agree with this. I'm all for a nice stripped down heartbreak record (Something similar to the last Goldfrapp album maybe?) but the songs are just not strong enough. I can't remember anything about it after a couple of listens whereas the last album the songs got stuck in my head very quickly. I just kind of assumed because she made such a leap in quality from the first album to the second that it would continue with this one. Will probably give it another chance because Wounded Rhymes is such a great record. I'm jealous of the people getting a lot out of it.

these songs definitely get stuck in my head. particularly "no rest for the wicked" and "gunshot". I do empathise with the idea that the album is a bit underwritten, and I'm sad that a song like "Love Me Like I'm Not Made Of Stone" was left as a spare guitar demo - it deserves more ceremonial production.

the hooks aren't the problem, it's the wall of blah reverbed sound that engulfs everything, like an entire record of "sadness is my boyfriend," and one of those was enough. (I also think a lot of the biographical criticism is forced and overstated -- she got her HEART BROKEN! and MOVED TO L.A.! ...and as a musician the reason you move from Sweden to L.A. is more likely so you can do things like work with Greg Kurstin.)

otm. I had the same problem with Angel Olsen, this year's other acclaimed singer-songwriter album. The mix and arrangement choices leaned too heavily on the lugubrious.

usually i find an excessively reverbed landscape dulling and alienating but something about this one is really enveloping and inhabitable for me

would love to hear emmylou harris sing "love me like i'm not made of stone"

Sadness is my Boyfriend is great. One of my favourites on the last album.

I think "Love Me..." is absolutely stunning as-is and feel even the slightest bit more of any production flourishes could possibly have ruined it.

I'm not usually a fan of shticky reverb, but I don't mind it at all here. It just feels like a really natural way of presenting these songs

three or so listens i think i've determined this album is just too much of too little to hold me

I think "Love Me..." is absolutely stunning as-is and feel even the slightest bit more of any production flourishes could possibly have ruined it.

otm

for Brad's sake I'm gonna listen again

idk alfred this might not be a record for you

it is definitely a record for me

like the vast dimensional swaths of reverb actually lend a warmth and drama to the songs, reminds me of a more functional lanois production

xp I dunno, this seems like a pretty direct, earnest album that anybody could get behind.

I don't get the "omg she worked with Greg Kurstin" dismissal at all. It's like like Kurstin is Max Martin or something, and I really don't hear his stamp on this at all. For all its uumph, I think the production does a great job staying out of the way

it isn't a dismissal -- two out of his three tracks are the best ones on the album! -- and if anything this needed *more* of him. but I just don't think it's good criticism to be like "she moved to L.A. to ~*find herself*~" when if you look at the industry (and "I Follow Rivers" being a surprise(?) chart hit after the fact) there are more likely reasons. (the same goes, fwiw, for "you just need to break up with someone, then you'll understand")

Yeah, I rolled my eyes a bit at the break-up narrative, since it's one of those tropes critics have a way of overstating. Mirah also just came out with a new album the same week that was also born of A Really Hard Break Up. Break-ups aren't nearly as rare or exotic as critics make them out to be sometimes; they're a pretty universal experience.

But I understand why they play it up for albums like this. It's pretty clearly a break-up album, and having that autobiographical context, however oversimplified, really does help listeners connect to records. And since critics play up and overstate any narrative they're handed (It's their first album in three years! First album with a new bassist! First album after moving from one indie label to another! Etc) I don't think there's anything that unusual about how they framed this one

for the record i think the pr narrative about this record both overexplains and hinders it, and personally i am a fan of luxuriating semi-identical sadnesses but i might find them tiresome if the whole thing exceeded 30 minutes

the new one has grown on me a ton

I was in the midst of a break-up depression when it came out so I listened to it once and put it away. Perhaps it's time to reassess.

this record will probably attach to fall nicely

^^ It really, really does. Love how unabashedly honest this record is. Frequently getting This Mortal Coil vibes too, which make it all the more autumn-y. Love it.

New album coming in June called, So Sad So Sexy. Sean from Drowned In Sound has said the new songs he's heard sound like Aaliyah and Prince. Apparently it's her return to pop and two new singles are coming next week. Looking forward to this even though her last album didn't really do anything for me.

Sean from Drowned In Sound has said the new songs he's heard sound like Aaliyah and Prince

I would bet this is completely inaccurate

You're probably right, but it did get my hopes up.

The album is out June 8.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLO408PZgek

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ5zqTEDeHc

01 hard rain
02 deep end
03 two nights [ft. Aminé]
04 last piece
05 jaguars in the air
06 sex money feelings die
07 so sad so sexy
08 better alone
09 bad woman
10 utopia

Not sure about these new songs. They're ok, they just don't have the character of her first two albums. Hopefully they'll grow on me.

Major 3LW vibes on "Deep End"

06 sex money feelings die

I really like these! It's nice to hear some grit behind her soft voice, even if it is borrowed sadcore-trap vibes from Lana Del Rey.

"sounds like Aaliyah and Prince" is gonna be my new ironic refereence in talking about people who don't understand anything remotely r&b influenced in the present.

99% of the time, a trap beat makes me tune right out. No different here.

"deep end" is pretty cool but considering it was produced by jeff bhasker, malay & t-minus it also feels a bit like less than the sum of its parts to me. nb ive never had a use for her music but the way ppl were talking about this one got me to check it out

The swimming pools / indigo / deep blue hook in Deep End is real nice.

Really disappointed with the new album. Totally passed me by the couple of times I listened to it.

What’s it like?

im liking it

Same!

Albums super short. Template seems to be the prior collab with ASAP and the Lynch ballad

Why in God’s name did she use vocoder on this

man this album is a grower, it's great

i've only heard "two nights" so far, like it

Record is very dense production wise. Full of miniature details and very self contained. I absolutely love the opening song

The general reaction for this album seems above average, critically and just user opinions I’ve read. Which is fair as the album is so short and ends on “utopia” which is a stunner of a song, at 34 mins this is succinct.

This record feels transitory to me in that her last one was a fairly bummer ride compared to previous work, but here she seems to be reconciling? Not as much a shift as sundfors last two to draw a comparison.

in love with this record

the concise nature makes every song shine, it's gorgeous

wow someone really loved "High By The Beach" a lot eh

I had put off listening to this because the last one was such a washout but this is much better, maybe lacking a great single but possibly her best full album?

Great record

I'm still not enjoying this as much as I want to. It certainly is a step up from the last album, but it's nowhere near the quality of her first two albums for me. Wounded Rhymes is my favourite.