Anna Ternheim "Psalmer från sjunde himlen" (2025)

Psalmer från sjunde himlen

release date: Jan. 17, 2025

format: digital (10 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,66]

producer: Joakim Berg, Martin Sköld

label: Universal - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 1. "Kom tilbaks" - 2. "Nära dig" (4 / 5) - 3. "Orkanen" - 4. "Hit men inte längre" - 6. "Lämnar alla bakom" - 8. "Kalifornien" - 9. "Sjunde himlen" - 10. "Små mirakel"

[ Promo-video ]

8th studio album by Anna Ternheim following her 2019 album A Space for Lost Time offers something quite different from what she has so far released as a solo artist. Former Kent-frontman Joakim Berg is here credited as composer of all tracks, and former Kent-bassist and producer Martin Sköld is also credited as co-composer on half of these ten new songs. Berg and Ternheim are together 2/3 of the project-band Dead People who gave us the debut We Love in 2022, an album which reflects a style that blends folk pop and synthpop, and that's basically also what greets us on this new album from Ternheim. In that sense it marks a huge leap from her 2019 stripped-down folk release. Berg previously worked with Veronica Maggio on her Fiender är tråkigt (Oct. 2019) for which he co-composed 9 songs, and it's tempting to point to that album when listening to Psalmer från sjunde himlen. The vocalist has been exchanged but Berg's fingerprints are all over this album, and he really has a gift for writing melodic pop-tunes. To finish off the tempting comparison with Maggio's solo release, that one is held in more uptempo synthpop arrangements, which in many ways fits her vocal better, whereas Ternheim appears more of a vocalist, which succeeds in the blue notes. That said, this album is remarkably uptempo when comparing to Ternheim's discography, and it's her first to be exclusively with Swedish lyrics.

All in all, the album is a refreshing new move on Ternheim's musical path. At times, I sense references to the Kent back-catalogue, and some songs reek a certain simplistic naivity but then again, these are explicitly 'psalms from the seventh heaven', and shouldn't shock anyone as primarily positive melodies, and then it's mostly just honey for ears and mind, and at bottom line this whole album is like a blow of fresh air. And don't we all need that. Psalmer från sjunde himlen is up there among Ternheim's best albums, and it's a recommended listen.

[ Aftonbladet.se 4 / 5 stars ]

Underworld "Strawberry Hotel" (2024)

Strawberry Hotel

release date: Oct. 25, 2024

format: digital (15 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,86]

producer: Rick Smith, Esme Bronwen-Smith

label: Smith Hyde Productions - nationality: UK

Track highlights: 1. "Black Poppies" - 2. "Denver Luna" - 3. "Techno Shinkansen" - 4. "And the Colour Red" - 5. "Sweet Lands Experience" - 6. "Lewis in Pomona" - 9. "King of Haarlem" - 10. "Ottavia" - 12. "Gene Pool" - 14. "Iron Bones"

11th studio album by the more than 30 year-old electronic duo-project Underworld - founded in Cardiff, Wales and consisting of Welsh-native Rick Smith and English-born Karl Hyde - following five years after their massive Drift-project, which was condensed into Drift Series 1 - Sampler Edition (Nov. 2019). Usually, Rick Smith has been sole producer on Underworld releases but here he has teamed up with Esme Bronwen-Smith, who happens to be Rick's daughter but also an opera-singer in her own rights and she also contributes with vocals on four tracks (tracks #5-7, and #10). The album comes with 15 tracks and a total running time exceeding 68 minutes.

The condensed Drift Series 1 - Sampler Edition could be regarded as a contemporary electronic compilation of sorts - given its origins of being selected material from more than 40 compositions - this new album is more of a traditional species that even bonds with much earlier releases such as A Hundred Days Off (Sep. 2002) and even Second Toughest in the Infants (Mar. 1996) by emphasizing progressive electronic sound structures with raving drum and bass dancefloor-friendly party-music, which isn't just that but it should invite huge crowds to excercise their feet and legs when played loud.

Strawberry Hotel is a perfect example of how these two experienced musicians have understood to keep the flame burning by producing new and relevant music for younger generations, and it's really a pleasure to listen to Karl Hyde sounding very much as he did on albums made three decades ago.

Highly recommended.

[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, Uncut 4,5 / 5, Record Collector, 👍The Guardian, Mojo 4 / 5, SputnikMusic 3,7 / 5 stars ]