You have to feel for Sondre Lerche. In the family of modern male singer\/songwriters, the Norwegian vocalist is pretty much the Fredo of the bunch. It\u2019s not that he isn\u2019t \u201csmart\u201d or unable to \u201chandle things,\u201d it\u2019s just in a group populated with Sufjan Stevens, Bon Iver and Joseph Arthur, Lerche is the one who\u2019s most often \u201cstepped over.\u201d<\/p>\n
For five albums Lerche has dabbled in a variety of musical genres \u2013 upbeat pop, mellifluous ballads, acoustic folk, 50s jazz, straight up rock \u2018n\u2019 roll \u2013 and while it\u2019s all innovative and fresh, there\u2019s not a clear definition of who Sondre Lerche is. No more. On his self-titled sixth album, Lerche has stripped away any pretense and presents himself as a man with a guitar, a sturdy voice and a host of sharp lyrics. He makes a strong case that while he might be passed over by some, it ain\u2019t the way he wants it.<\/p>\n
\u201cRicochet\u201d sets the tone from the outset, pushed by Lerche\u2019s ranging voice, gentle piano, meandering strings and contemplative lyrics. When he sings \u201cWe\u2019re almost emptied out\/ Sentimental echoes, cynical with doubt\/ Hard to make believe nothing means anything to me,\u201d you understand how impressive a wordsmith he\u2019s become.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s followed by \u201cPrivate Caller,\u201d the album\u2019s best song, which excels by combining perfect pop with creative bridges and musical interludes. It\u2019s a recurring theme throughout the 10-song, 40-minute collection \u2013 Lerche finds unconventional ways to bring a bit of daring into each piece of the puzzle.<\/p>\n
At times, there\u2019s a clever spot of fun. \u201cColiseum Town\u201d starts as a country ditty until the strings enter, making an unmistakable sound \u2013 and suddenly you realize the Norwegian singer has referenced \u201cNorwegian Wood.\u201d I had to laugh.<\/p>\n
But the cleverness doesn\u2019t always hit the mark, with some homages becoming too obvious (more Beatles adulation throughout the overly-long \u201cTied Up To The Tide,\u201d the patented Stevie Wonder harmonica near the end of \u201cLiving Dangerously\u201d). Yet the album ending \u201cWhen The River\u201d dives back into Lerche\u2019s forte \u2013 a lively tune flitting with rhythm and vocals for a festive menagerie.<\/p>\n
While Lerche may not be as celebrated as the others in his oeuvre, he\u2019s developed a distinct album, and you\u2019re sure to know it was him. But this time, it won\u2019t break your heart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
You have to feel for Sondre Lerche. In the family of modern male singer\/songwriters, the Norwegian vocalist is pretty much the Fredo of the bunch. It\u2019s not that he isn\u2019t \u201csmart\u201d or unable to \u201chandle things,\u201d it\u2019s just in a group populated with Sufjan Stevens, Bon Iver and Joseph Arthur, Lerche is the one who\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1539,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[492],"class_list":["post-1538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-review","tag-sondre-lerche"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1538"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1538\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1540,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1538\/revisions\/1540"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}