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Lykke Li - Youth Novels
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If it’s from Scandinavia it must be cutesy pop, right? Er, yeah, actually. Young Lykke Li Zachrisson comes straight outta Stockholm with the swaggering, sashaying, hip-swinging single ‘I’m Good, I’m Gone’ and this sweet album, a musical tribute to the teenage diary. Sounds a bit much to swallow? Well, it’s not.
What could be gloopy, saccharine, whatever, is saved by the sharpness of Lykke Li’s writing and the inventive production and playing of Bjorn Yttling – the Bjorn in Peter, Bjorn and John of ‘Young Folks’ ubiquity. This is an album rich in melody, but it’s not over-egged. In fact, it’s a spacious record, subtle and supple.
There’s still plenty for the pop fan, with the thumped piano and catchy chorus of 'I'm Good...' rubbing shoulders with the touching balladry of ‘Tonight’ and the gorgeous minor keys of the swooning ‘My Love’. But it’s the little differences that mark Youth Novels as a cut above the jaunty herd. Most obviously it’s the percussion, which stands out throughout the album but to greatest effect on the ping-pong patterns of ‘Dance, Dance, Dance’ and the irregular heartbeat of heartbreaker ‘Everybody But Me’. It’s a bit oriental, a bit American Beauty, and an adventurous step away from sequenced beats.
Vocally, Lykke Li is Bjork with more gurgle - a voice you either want to cuddle or throttle. What it does do is add impossible emotion to the vulnerable likes of ‘Hanging High’ (“Oh won’t you let me down/Back where it started at/You know I’m a little lost”); what it doesn’t do is sell the more aggressive likes of electro strutter ‘Complaint Department’. No matter – when she plays to her gossamer strengths, Lykke Li is an affecting and appealing pop proposition.
Matthew Horton
