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4.0 out of 5 stars
Attention: personality and talent in sight, September 5, 2002
This review is from: Faces Down (Audio CD)
Sondre Lerche was only 16 when he wrote these 11 songs. It should not mislead you: this is not another 'teen musician' TRL likes so much. The result is surprisingly mature. If you like guys who write good folk-rock guitar melodies and care about their lyrics, this one is for you. Mix Bruce Springsteen, Toploader and Pete Yorn with Prefab Sprout (Sondre worships Paddy McAloon) for the music and Beck for the voice and you will get a rough idea. Frode Unneland on drums, Jørgen Træen at keyboards and programming and Morten Skage on bass (among other musicians) are all doing an excellent job backing up Sondre on this project.
The evident singles "Dead Passengers" and "Sleep on needles" have gotten regular airplay on Belgian alternative rock radios. "Suffused with love" is a great mid-tempo ballad with ghost synth and guitars. "Side Two" is totally acoustic with just guitar and vocals. On the fresh upbeat "Modern Nature", Sondre shares vocals with Lilian Samdal, the feminine touch bringing variety. The drums solo 'tap dancing noise' imitation in the middle of the song gives a humorous feel to the ensemble. "Virtue and wine" starts slowly with piano and strings to turn into a rocky tune. The pace changes inside of this song show the mastery of this young man in writing melodies. I also like a lot "All luck ran out" quick rock pace. "You know so well", "On and off again" and the excellent (9:25 long) "Things you call fate" complete this first album.
This young Norwegian is showcasing a real song writing talent and a very personal musical world, which deserves to get attention. If today's music bizz lets him grow he might do great stuff in the future.
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