Customer Reviews

Wounded Rhymes

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If Lykke Li's consistent (yet commercially underwhelming) debut record was any indication, she had a lot more to offer us than eclectic musical compositions with hooks that tend to stick. And that promise is certainly recognized on the supremely excellent "Wounded Rhymes", her sophomore record, and one that should solidify her place amongst todays' best independent artists. A record of this sort will perhaps never be a million-seller; and probably won't even reach a fraction of the audience that fellow Swede Robyn did last year with her stupendous "Body Talk", but as a work of art it is virtually flawless. The only flaw, if one can call it that, is that it is somewhat short in length.

The theme of the record, as indicated by the cryptic album cover, is love and loss. What is interesting about Lykke Li, is that she doesn't really seem to care so much about love, but rather seems more focussed on consequences of it. An interesting take, but this leads to some great songwriting - the lyrics here seem straightforward but are in fact rather indecipherable at times - and the music more than appropriately backs it up.

The standout track (amongst an album full of standouts, one might add) is the riveting "I Follow Rivers" - which is literally overflowing with metaphor and meaning - the glacial overtones of the instrumentation were not lost on the director of the music video to this fascinating piece of music - and it encapsulates what the entire record is all about. The same can be said of the slow-burner "Silent my Song" - a track that reveals itself in stages and only upon multiple listens. Throughout the album, there is a sense of open space & Nordic wilderness - a running theme through Lykke's records in general - but more so in this one. This gives it a chance to sonically 'open up' in ways that can be experienced best on only a hi-fi music system. On the flipside, there are things about it best experienced on headphones - the stark difference between playing this on a huge system and on a minimalist system is quite something - its like two entirely different albums - both just as essential and spellbinding.

Listen, this may not be everyones kind of music. I'm more a Bon Iver, Justin Vernon, Devendra Banhart, & Joanna Newsom kind of guy, so my tastes veer toward the obscure, and for lack of a better word, 'freak folk' movement. However, Scandinavia has been regularly producing some truly sensational artists - Stina Nordenstam comes to mind, but most talented would perhaps be Lykke Li, and the even more obscure Frida Hyvonen and her sophomore album "Silence is Wild". If moody, dark, minimalist icy pop is what youre after, Lykke Li is exactly the kind of artist that should do it for you. Also, and it bears repeating, this is an album that has immense repeat value - which of course is always the hallmark of an instant classic.

Five Stars. Definitely in the running for Album of the Year 2011.

"Wounded Rhymes" is the follow up to Swedish songstress Lykke Li's brilliant debut "Youth Tales". Produced by Björn Yttling of Peter Björn and John, it opens with the playfully bouncy organ-driven "Youth Knows No Pain" which sounds like a sixties girl group."I Follow Rivers" is surreal with tinpot percussion and a ghostly coda, while "Love Out Of Lust" (with a forlorn whistle break) and the tinkling "Unrequited Love" are wistful retro ballads. The bouncy "Get Some" (with chiming guitars and tribal percussion) finds her declaring "I'm your prostitute, you gonna get some".

"Rich Kids Blues" juxtaposes fuzzy/quivering guitars against a dense wall of sound, while "Sadness Is A Blessing" is a shuffling Doo Wop-style ballad. "I Know Places" is a tender acoustic ballad with gently strummed guitar, "Jerome" is absolutely stunning, and closing is "Silent My Song" with gorgeous harmonies and the lines "You see pain like it is pleasure, like a work of art". This perfectly sums up Li's sound as she sees music like a work of art.

The other reviews do a nice job of talking about the music, so I thought I'd chime in on the packaging. If you're tossing whether to splurge on the CD or just get the download - this is one of the rare cases I'd suggest the download. There isn't much to the CD packaging. One obscure, photo of a tribal painted Ms. Li on the back page of the booklet plus the murky cover art. The lyric sheet is muddled as well, printed text with some inky cross-outs to somehow denote that Ms. Li was still working out the songs while the booklet went to press.

Focus instead on the music: slow burners that demand attention and a few full throttle bangers that demand movement. Focus instead on the voice - a vibrato crisp like a woodwind; powerful and enchanting. I thought with the vampy SPIN cover story, the album would have sold better out of the gate, but this one is sure to blaze a slow, steady trail, one listener at a time. While Robyn and Annie are bright, caffeinated blasts of technicolor pop (that I highly recommend); Wounded Rhymes is a cool, hazy, thumpy, rhythmic and dreamy disc you can dance to before drifting away into bliss.

Lykke Li's sophomore album is full of beautifully crafted rhymes. It's chemical, emotional and full of beats. It's not familiar to Lykke's debut, both lyrically and musically.The cd starts with Youth Knows No Pain a song full of energetic sounds...Then we have I Follow Rivers, the hit of the album. Love Out of Lust and Unrequited Love are ballads, emotional and simple. After some calm moments Get Some arrives and explodes like a H2O bomb. It's fun, loud and messy. Then my personal favorite Sadness is a Blessing plays on and amazes people lyrically with the words "Sadness is a blessing, sadness is a pearl, sadness my boyfriend, sadness I'm your girl" I Know Places is a slow track full of the beauty of silence. Jerome is rhythmical amazement. The last song Silent My Song ends the album perfectly. Like I said Wounded Rhymes is sophisticated, messy and dirty .

Take your eye of the ball for one moment and suddenly early in the season Li Lykke Timotej Zachrisson better known as Sweden's Lykke Li scores a very special goal. Indeed only three months into to the year she may well have recorded one of the "pop" albums of 2011 with "Wounded Rhymes" and proved yet again that the current crop of diminutive female singers (see Janelle Monae) pack a real wallop. Li is described in the blurb to accompany this album as "a Kung-fu Marianne Faithful, and an armed Nancy Sinatra on peyote" and thats fair enough as a nice bit of marketing; in fact if you were to add The Ronettes into the equation and a sprinkling of her Swedish chums The Knife you would be in the ball park in terms of influences. She is nonetheless very much her her own woman and this album has a nice dark slant to temper its more overt poppier instincts. Check out opener "Youth knows no pain" which starts with huge percussion, almost a Charlatans style key board riff and a delicious vocal by Li giving it a sixties feel which for some reason cries out to soundtrack a Austin Powers film. The single "Get some" is completely infectious and riotous where Li informs us over tribal drum that she is" like a shotgun who needs a outcome" and one would sincerely hope that the result would be a huge hit single. The latest single off the album however is "I follow rivers" which starts with a xylophone tinkle and pounds deep into you skull with a hammering pop sensibility and a daft lyric, while "Rich kid blues" could happily soundtrack a James Bond film.

Li's strengths also go far beyond the well crafted pop song and in "Unrequited Love" she echoes the doo wop themes of the Shangri Las with an aching ballad and if its possible the six minute plus "I know places" is even lovelier and one of the albums highlights. Alternatively "Jerome" has that great Fever Ray pounding quality to it and once it finishes press the repeat button not least to replay that sultry vocal. Like last years "Go" album by Jonsi "Wounded Rhymes" is and immediate and accessible and jam packed with songs with enough hooks to make the whole affair attention-grabbing, memorable, easy to dance to and completely irresistible. As with all great pop music it also has hidden depth and a slightly wicked and defiant core. Thus unlike her first album her sophomore record is more cutting than cute, qualities which are drawn out by the excellent production of Björn Yttling who proves himself the Nordic equivalent of Phil Spector on "Sadness is a blessing". Lykke Li is frankly an adorable pop star and if this album doesn't turn your unrequited love into an obsession you really need to have your pulse checked.

I saw the video of "Get Some" and right then I knew this girl was special. It was hilarious and sexy too. She has taken the girl group sound of the early sixties and created a dark romantic album that captures something of youth that resonates even with an old man like me.

Like when my four year old grand son sings "You are my Sunshine" there is a sadness underlying that song that he gets. Lykke Li understands the sadness that envelops all of this world and covers it with beautiful music. The production is mostly lush but I saw another video, "I Follow Rivers" with a spare production, which proves she will sound good no matter what. Her music is not a downer but there is a darkness. She's got something to say and I hope she has a long successful career.

I highly recommend this. It is very very good.

This is not my usual type of album, in that I have been listening to a lot of Americana recently. But it came up on my recommendations and I had noticed the lovely Lykke Li are playing 'The End Of The Road Festival', this year. I always go and always have a great time, so I took a punt.

I am so glad I did, from the opener 'Youth knows no pain', it kicks off in such a distinct way, with melodies that just grab you and a driving beat that appears at first hypnotic and then lets you free fall to another level, all in a completely effortless and rewarding way. Every tune has its own identity and yet with a consistency that pulls the whole thing together as an integral project. There is so much variation, but the distinctive percussion is the only staple and that too is so varied, she can teach some contemporaries a thing or two.

I can see why she has been compared to Sandie Shaw, especially on the melancholic, torch song of `Sadness is a blessing' - possibly my current favourite. And the haunting `Unrequited love'. There are more raunchy numbers too and my version has bonus tracks that you can download once you put it in your computer.

Can't really think of a duff track and have been listening to this for over two weeks now and it is just getting better. A friend described this as `a bit like `Bat for Lashes' only miles better', and I must say I rather agree, not wanting to knock the aforementioned Bat and co. If they are half as good live as they are on this fantastic production, I am going to have another great festival.

Typical Lykke Li, but that in no way means it is boring or repetitive of her earlier works! One of my favorite albums of 2011; for fans of, in my opinion, Metric, Florence +the Machine. Stand out tracks include "Love out of Lust", "I Follow Rivers", and "Unrequited Love."

Youth Novels goes straight to the top of my all-time favorite list. From start to finish, that album is a self-contained miracle. It heralds so much talent, confidence, swagger, melodicsim, and, you know, every other adjective. Her live show was even better. Watching someone who knows she is great at what she does is a treat. That said, this album is a let-down. Is it better than 100 other albums you're randomly going to play for me? Sure. But aside from the first couple of tracks, this album is missing the clarity of the first album. The whole production is a little muddled, and even Unrequited Love, which pointedly nods to 50s gems that I love, misses the mark wide. The whole album seems to be submerged in a gray gloom that does not service the album well. I'm still glad I own the album, but I haven't listened to it in ages since the first month that I bought it. LL is such a huge talent, and her first album so sublime, that I'll probably buy at least her next two albums without hearing even one track beforehand. That's a sign of crazy talent.

Katy WHO? Lady WHAT?

I kept hearing, "I Follow Rivers" on the radio this Summer and always wondered who it was. Sounded "old" to me, while sounding "new", as well. Always a good sign....

I finally reseached the song, found out it was Lykke Li, and bought "Wounded Rhymes" last weekend. It's been in my car CD player since!

I can't get enough of this album! I love her voice, I love the dark and plodding rhythms throughout, the vocal arrangements are brilliant. The music makes me both happy and sad all at once. I haven't been so entranced and captivated by an artist/album in quite some time.

I can't help but hear "Phil Spector Wall of Sound" all over the place on "Wounded Rhymes". Mid-60's Los Angeles meets 2011 Sweden! Love it! Heck, Li even sounds like Ronnie Spector at times.

I of course love, "I Follow Rivers", but there are even better tracks on the album. You know you're dealing with something special when the track that gets the airplay isn't the best track on the album. "Youth Knows No Pain", "Love Out Of Lust", "Get Some", and "Silent My Song" are particular noteables.

If this record doesn't win Album Of The Year, I won't know what say about it.

Wow!