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Elly Roberts reviews
Secretly Canadian Records
- October 2007
- Rating: 10/10+++
Tops Swedish chart. Wont happen here. Pity. No matter.
Put this CD in your player, listen and get blown away.
There have been some excellent albums this year. No doubt about it – this isTHE best. 2007 began with a masterpiece Ray Lamontagnes Till The Sun Turns Black.Then came Rufus Wainwrights Release The Stars, Beiruts opus The Flying Club Cup,and a few others.
Now the year closes with the jaw-dropping Night Falls Over Kortedala.Kid you not, this is quite sensational. 21st century Pure Pop never soundedso wonderful, and it comes from 26 year old Swede Jens Martin Lekman. Themusic, and I mean music, thats going here is breathtaking. Its a no-holds-barredand freewheeling approach. Vocally, Lekmans a hybrid of Scott Walker andMorrisey. The songwriting craft is of the highest order.
Theres undoubted schmaltz, sweet cabaret style Sipping On The Sweet Nectarwith fluttering flutes and swirling strings to a belting big beat and good oldfashoned Northern Soul even, propelled by masses of strings on The OppositeOf Hallelujah. It all begings with lashings of strings and vocal, leadingto a dramatic arrangement a la Rufus Wainwright for And I Remember Every Kiss a stunning start.
Early ’70s Soul seems to have influenced the gentle A Postcard To Nina,as the genre is rubber stamped by the male vocal backups. Into the mix hethrows in a bit of disco-cabaret, a throwback to ’70s Tony Orlandos Dawn (TieA Yellow Ribbon) crossed with Richard Hawleys crooning.
Masterful clunking piano and stylish singing open Im Leaving You… thatleads to a funky beat and sprinkling of harp a potent mix indeed, making itthe jewel in the crown. Following -on is another soulful piece, If I Could Cry.This one is special because of the girlie backups and a ’60s string onslaughttexturising the latent percussion, which changes pace on the run-in.
A swirling harp and emotional strings prefix one of Lekmans best vocalmoments on the monumental Your Arms Around Me, supplemented by deftRnB beats, making it another grand moment to savour. Back to the ’60s againfor a Frankie Valli styled vocal for the often pulsating and swooning Shirin,whereas the funk-soul-RnB Kanske Ar… is loaded with golden Beach Boystight harmonies and melodies.
With the sixties bulking the retro feel, a brilliant sax solo introduces (andpops up throughout) Friday Night At The Drive-in Bingo. This is a fundance track that closes what must be considered a 21 century masterpiece.
Lekman laboured over three years for the choice of tracklisting.
It paid off. This is truly magnificent, in every way. The more I hear it, themore Im convinced.
File under: Best album of 2007.
Weblinks:jenslekman.com /secretlycanadian.com /secretlycanadian.com/press
The full list of tracks included are :
1. And I Remember Every Kiss
2. Sipping On The Sweet Nectar
3. The Opposite Of Hallelujah
4. A Postcard to Nina
5. Into Eternity
6. Im Leaving You Because I Dont Love You
7. If I Could Cry ( It Would Feel Like This )
8. Your Arms Around Me
9. Shirin
10. It Was A Strange Time In My Life
11. Kanske Ar Jag Kar I Dig
12. Friday Night At The Drive-In Bingo
Elly Roberts passed away in 2011, but he was a man who was so passionate about all types of music and loved meeting his musical heroes, such as Mick Hucknall at a book signing at the Trafford Centre, Manchester in 2007.
A former teacher and also a music journalist, DJ and radio presenter on local community station Calon FM, plus appearances on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 2, Elly started doing reviews for DVDfever.co.uk in 2004 and he did the majority of the CD and concerts reviews on the website.
I know also that he loved getting away for the summer to Spain and I hope that wherever he is now he is enjoying the hot sunshine and, as one of his friends has said on his Facebook page, that he is interviewing his musical heroes.