14 November 2017

C.V. Jørgensen "I det muntre hjørne" (1990)

I det muntre hjørne
release date: 1990
format: vinyl (gatefold) / digital
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,18]
producer: C.V. Jørgensen
label: Epic Records - nationality: Denmark


10th studio album by C.V. Jørgensen following two years after Indian Summer (Aug. '88) is like that produced by C.V. Jørgensen himself. And just as was generally the case with the predecessor, the lyrics and music here are credited Jørgensen himself, with the exception of "Træt som en junkie", which was composed together with Lars Hybel. The album offers nine tracks and has a total running length of just over 40 minutes. Among the participating musicians are a number of old acquaintances including Lars Hybel on guitar, banjo and bass, Jacob Andersen on percussion, and with Gert Smedegård on drums. The album shows a reunion with Aske Jacoby, who also took part on four tracks on Vennerne & vejen (1985) and who has been a stable member of C.V.'s touring backing band. Here, Jacoby is featured on on all tracks and he is credited guitar, mandolin, and keyboard - normally, instruments Jørgensen's long-time fellow musician, Nils Henriksen, previously handled, as he did on Indian Summer.
As the title and certainly also the cover indicate, C.V. here is in a more positive mood than previously heard, and it's an atmosphere he brings to the musical expression. Incidentally, the title is taken from the song "Pligterne kalder". Musically, he continues some of the positive tones you'll find on the predecessor, and the style is warm and laid back. It's a turn back to the folk rock that initially inspired him, but which he has never really made as stylishly as he does here. There is a clear inspiration from his old role model Dylan, as well as both Neil Young and Joni Mitchell. On his earlier albums, the inspiration was clear, both musically and lyrically, while this is almost like a tribute to a musical style, as the music is quite original and the lyrics are also Jørgensen's own shape, which has gained a clearer layer of humour and a positive tone. The album may easily be seen as Jørgensen's own comment to national music critics who have long labeled C.V.'s albums as sarcastic sulkiness, just as he has long fought against a media image as a left-wing social critic, although he has never professed to a political position and instead deliberatedly have pointed to the corrupting power. On most of these new songs, he continues his new narrative 'I' form, which he initiated on Indian Summer. He says, among other things, that he is ...'so tired of being a communist' with a barely concealed salute to the critics' predicate, and on the album's end track "Tak for sangen" he thanks his sources of inspiration and his musical acquaintances. After poor sales figures with the album Indian Summer, the band Sort Sol's cover of the title track, released as a single in late '91, helped to bring new focus to this very album, and C.V. here sends a direct greeting to the band with the line: "...tak til Sort Sol for den lyse nat" [...'thanks to Sort Sol for the bright night'] - in other words: With their tribute, Sort Sol helped pointing out the qualities of the album.
I det muntre hjørne found positive reception, and the album was nominated Danish Album of the Year at the 1991 Danish Music Awards, it won as Danish Rock Release of the Year, and C.V. was handed the award for Danish Songwriter of the Year.
In sales numbers, the album is one of Jørgensen's biggest successes, although, critics were divided. Some hailed C.V.'s new positive style and the musical turn, while others found it too light, without his trademark of social awareness and without his sharp wit with which his name was bound.
In Jørgensen's discography, the album is one of my absolute favourites and the it's the only C.V. album I so far have purchased on vinyl.
Front cover and artwork are (as usual) credited Annemarie Albrectsen.
Highly recommended.
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