Lykke Li - Youth Novels
Youth Novels (2008, LL Recordings) Lykke Li's first studio album. ***1/2

In 2007 I became very tired of minimalism. It had been around since the late 1990s, and only few bands were able to do it successfully, namely blues-based bands such as the White Stripes and the Black Keys. There were others of course, but they seemed to be the only ones who had it down pat. And even then I wasn't crazy about it; Icky Thump, while still an exceptional album, ranked as one of the Stripes' weakest outputs. At the same time, wonderfully flourished albums like Neon Bible were sonically epic in every sense, and that was the direction that I had been waiting for.

And now in 2008, we've been seeing less minimalism in favor of bigger sounds. That doesn't always make things better, but it was a nice change from the norm. Li, however, seems to have missed the memo, and has actually put out one of the few truly great minimalist indie electronic albums (assuming there's more than this one). It's dance music for the kids who are too cool to dance. Youth Novels is disjointed, and it tends to sputter more than it stands solid. Things don't kick in until "Let It Fall," a very simple Prince-esque groove with lapping vocals. Even after this moment, it doesn't always work. The next great moment doesn't come until the robotic "Complaint Department," and appropriately it meanders until the end. There is no bad material here, what's here is just uneven, and Li is merely inconvienced to have a debut that's not quite as proper as it should be. We'll see where she can go from here, because while it's a promising start, the genre she's adopted as well as her sound don't lend to a whole lot of growth. (Let It Fall, Complaint Department, Breaking It Up)

Awesome! (4.5 stars)
I'm so glad I saw Lykke Li's late-night performance that inspired me to buy this album, because I love it. It's pop music that we haven't heard before, with really interesting instrumentation and vocal arrangements. It's odd enough to appeal to my "art rock" taste, but totally catchy and accessible. It's not quite a perfect album - a couple songs are repetitive enough that they threaten to wear thin after a while - but it's certainly a great one, and a terrific soundtrack to these late-summer days. Definitely one of the better albums I've bought this year.

Love is a symphony
For the record, Lykke Li has one of the most punnish stage names in all of the pop world.

Fortunately the obvious jokes are no reflection on the talents of this fledgling Swedish singer (real name: Li Lykke Timotej Zachrisson), whose high soft voice and uniquely pretty music are reminiscent of singers like El Perro Del Mar, Hanne Hukkelberg and Stina Nordenstam. And her full-length debut "Youth Novels" is an exquisite one -- wistful, bittersweetly elfin songs set to deceptively simple-sounding electro-folkpop.

It opens with a gentle stream of piano and strings, as Lykke Li quietly instructs a lover on how to hold her. "Follow these instructions/Do exactly as I do... Love is the harmony/Desire is the key/Love is a symphony/Now play it with me..."

Things pick up with the more "Dance Dance Dance," a simple little song about expressing your feelings via dancing ("When I'm shaking my hips/Look for the swing/The words are written in the air"), and the plunkin piano of "I'm Good I'm Gone" ("Well, say you're not 'cause when I'm gone/You'll be callin' but I won't be at the phone!"). But things start relaxing with the jazzier pop melody of "Let It Fall."

From there, Lykke Li explores some of the more mellow niches -- she tries out haunting folk songs tinged with synth, melancholy guitar pop, exquisitely wistful ballads, dark electropop, and a weird experimental number where she spends a long time muttering "can't get that trumpet outta my head... I woke up the night... can't get that trumpet outta my head!" The album ends on a rather dark note with the stomping ballad "Window Blues ("Don't go all soft on me/don't come across for me/don't lose your selfish ways over me...."

The entire "Youth Novels" album has a feeling of bittersweet intimacy -- it's sitting with a friend whose heart has just started to heal, and watching the snowflakes flutter down outside the window. And while the first couple songs are a bit on the lightweight side, Lykke Li quickly expands her repertoire and shows just how many kinds of pop she can do. Well, she does them all pretty well.

And her music is also very pretty -- we've got a bit of jazz, a bit of indie pop, and a veil of pale, soft electronica laid over it all like a blanket. She even does some experimentation in such songs as "Can't Get That Trumpet Out Of My Head" and the peppier "Dance Dance Dance." The latter is the most mellow, downtempo dance song I've ever heard -- and most of it is just drums and a tapped bell.

The rest of the time, you can hear a delicate web of solid instrumentation -- half-smothered saxophone, a folky acoustic guitar, a xylophone, piano melodies that can be heavy or tinkly as the song demands, a bit of kettle drum, and stretches of gentle plaintive strings. Oh yes, and some moments of buzzy dark synthpop, like in the gloriously dark "Complaint Department," and a swirling Spanish guitar that winds through "Can't Get That Trumpet Out Of My Head."

And then there's the vocals. This girl has a voice of spun glass and sunlit icicles, and regardless of what she sings she sounds incredibly sweet and fragile. Despite some awkward moments ("For you I keep my legs apart" -- ouch), her lyrics are also quite sweet -- the absence of love is painful and sometimes breaking up makes you anry, while love's presence brings you shyness, joy and defensiveness. Just look at the one about communicating love through dance.

"Youth Novel" is everything a debut album should be. While it's a bit fluffy at the start, it soon becomes obvious that Lykke Li is a master of many kinds of electropop. Definitely keep an eye on this girl.

Atmospheric Pop from Norway!!
Lykke Li is Sweden's latest Pop export and she's gotten the inevitable comparisons to fellow Nordic Pop stars Robyn and Annie, but in truth, her style is miles different from those two. 22 years old she may be, but her music is far ahead of her years, even her arty cover photo sets her apart from those two.

Her debut "Youth novels" is produced by Björn Yttling of Peter Bjorn and John and Lasse Mårtén, it is rather experimental and dreamy, fitting her light airy vocals to a tee.

In an album awash in brilliance, standouts include "Dance dance dance" (tapped percussion and strummed percussion, a squidgy Sax solo building to a nice choir finale), the sunny "I'm good, I'm gone" (with a killer chorus and lovely keyboard flourishes), the acoustic/Pop "Let it fall", the lilting Jazz/Folk "Little Bit" (which wouldn't sound out of place on a Kings of Convenience CD), the stark yet astonishingly beautiful ballad "Hanging high", the acoustic spoken largely instrumental "This trumpet in my head" (of course daintily adorned with trumpet playing), the buzzing Björk-like "Complaint department", the hand clap-filled Jazzy/Synth number "Breaking it up", and the brooding, almost hymnal closing number "Window blues" (with haunting harmonies).

This album is incredibly clever pop music with a great attention to detail. If only all Pop music could be this intelligent. I think we'll be hearing a lot more of Ms. Li in the near future.

Scandinavisku Pop Sem Singur
Peter Bjorn and John influence... true. But Lykke Li transcends what they were influenced by. There is just something about this Scandi-Pop, if you pardon me, that sings every time. Lykke Li is right there in with the whole Icelandic, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish pop thing. I don't know what it is, but isn't it easy to know that this is Scandinavian Pop? It's unmistakable!

Now hey, everyone blends everything. Can you hear Tegan and Sarah in the vocals? Emiliana Torrini? Morcheeba? It's easy to see for me; it's really nice.

This album is slightly uneven, but the first half (six songs) has stand-out tunes (please concentrate on these!!). Tracks 7 through 9 seem a bit of a miss. Then track 10, "Breaking It Up", through 12 are pretty good.

This is an "Ágætis Byrjun" (excellent start).


Steve