Living Thing

The Scandinavian music is back on the top

After a bright and lengthy rule of ABBA in the world of contemporary pop music, it was hard to imagine that Scandinavian artists would be able to fight back their colossal popularity on the global scene. However, in the beginning of the twenty-second century, it became a clear fact. The new fame was brought back to Scandinavians not by pop performers this time, but by indie and alt rockers. Such bands as Mando Diao, Sahara Hotnights, The Soundtrack Of Our Lives and Peter Bjorn And John not only became popular far beyond the borders of their beloved Sweden, but also actively propel their peers into the international market. The citizens of Norway do not want to fall behind them, and presented the today music with their experiment electronica band Royksopp. Well, but now we speak not about Royksopp, but about the three-piece group of Stockholm, titled Peter Bjorn And John. Everyone just has to remember their world hit Young Folks, which possessed the infectious whistling, which fascinated even rapper Kanye West. One could expect that Peter Bjorn And John will record something mainstream and commercial after their hit disc Writer's Block. However, in 2008, they created a wonderful acoustic album Seaside Rock. The follow-up, Living Things, recorded this year, also has nothing to do with the commercial music – but it raises the development of this band on a new level.

The stripped down sound on Living Things

The new disc by Peter Bjorn And John presents us the sound of the band in a new, stripped down to minimalism quality. The core of the album includes vocals and percussion, while the other instruments, excluding rare keyboards and bass, were considered the unnecessary luxury. The first single from the long-play, available to the listeners, was Nothing To Worry About. It seems that this track has the biggest potential of all tracks on the disc – the vivid dance beat, catchy tune and children choir in the chorus. One more undoubted success of the command is the memorable, posh track Lay It Down. However, its endless energy is coupled by the obscene lyrics – trust my word, you would not like the children to sing these verses along with soloist Peter Moren. The disc opener is the optimistic pop track The Feeling, which is followed by the retro melody It Don't Move Me, which resembles about the musical preferences of the band – dance electronica of 80s among them. The titling composition of the album, Living Things, definitely has its right to give the name to the whole thing. It is one of a few tracks that feature guitar on this disc. Indie rocker I'm Losing My Mind tells us about the doubtful advantages of getting crazy. The song features vocals by Bjorn Yttling, who usually provides bass and keyboard lines of the collective. One of the most interesting in the matter of lyrics songs is Blue Period Picasso, which narrates of the part of life of this artist, during which he desperately tried to earn the fame.

One more experiment from Peter Bjorn And John

It should be stated at once that the new disc by Peter Moren, Bjorn Yttling and John Eriksson, who form the collective Peter Bjorn And John, became the new daring experiment of the indie rockers. Although the tunes and the rhythms of the band stayed catchy, the reaction of each listener for Living Things can not be predicted. The same goes for the reviews on this album – you can not appreciate it, simply reading someone else’s opinions. In order to form an attitude to Living Things, you have to listen to the whole full-length at least one time. Even if you would not like the album, it is definitely worth listening due to the richest percussion palette. Well, in spite of the plane and may be even primitive title Peter Bjorn And John, the artists will not say they are inspiration and inventive bankrupts in the nearest future. From the rock of 60s they moved to acoustics and now they absolutely naturally pay their adoration to the synth-pop of 80s. What will Peter Bjorn And John do next? No one can answer this question after the disc Living Things, you can expect anything from them. The only thing that is clear is that this time the artists shared the vocal duties in a different proportion (if lately Moren soloed on all tracks, this time he gave the equal chances to his colleagues), the collective becomes only more united and integrated after all these experiments.