The Swedish don't have the best reputation on these shores at the moment, thanks to one of them deciding to take two knackered strikers, a 20-foot asparagus and a toddler to the World Cup instead of any actual players. However, if there's any justice in the world, Writer's Block by Peter Bjorn And John will help us all fall in love with Sweden all over again.
And that's because Writer's Block by Peter Bjorn And John is a dizzying mixture of quirky low-fi grooves, classic songwriting and infectious whistling. The result is that Writer's Block by Peter Bjorn And John is one of the most dazzling albums you'll hear all summer.
Aside from Sven Goran Eriksson – and that pikey 50p cola drink they sell by the tills in Ikea – a lot of Swedish exports are pretty ace. And, after hearing Writer's Block, Peter Bjorn And John are going right to the top of our list. Writer's Block is Peter Bjorn And John's third album, and the one that looks set to propel them overground. By now you'll be deliriously familiar with the single Young Folks – a song that proves whistling, bongos and a 1960's go-go rhythm can combine to make a heartfelt love song. Much of that has to do with the guest vocal duties from Victoria Bergsman from The Concretes – who still has a voice that you want to curl up and sleep inside – but Young Folks is just one highlight of many on Writer's Block.
For the entirety of Writer's Block, Peter Bjorn And John manage to create an incredible feeling of intimacy and closeness that lets the album sit together a whole, which is even more exceptional when you realise that it's a mixture of three writers' songs. A great deal of this is down to the production of Writer's Block – most songs contain a gently thrumming bass, resolutely unfancy drumming and echo-drenched vocals and guitars. Even when Peter Bjorn And John let loose on tracks like Young Folks and The Chills, the provoked effect is more hands-in-pockets shuffling than frenzied bodypopping.
From the opening, 16-second atmosphere-setting soundscape of the title track to the final few seconds of Poor Cow – and we're happy to be proved wrong if anyone can find a song which falls apart so ornately – Peter Bjorn And John hardly put a foot wrong for the duration of Writer's Block. It's the kind of album which delicately reveals a little more to the listener with each listen, but the pick of the crop at the moment are Start To Melt – which sounds like The Velvet Underground covering Loveless by My Bloody Valentine, the hypnotic euphoria of Paris 2004 and Roll The Credits, one of the only six and a half minute songs in living memory which never even hints at outstaying its welcome.
There's been a lot of talk lately about Young Folks turning Peter Bjorn And John into one-hit wonders. If that means that they'll stop making albums as deliriously gorgeous as Writer's Block, we're going to have to pray that doesn't happen.
[story by Stuart Heritage]
