Sondre Lerche Albums (6)
What The Critics Say
Over the course of his short career, Norwegian singer/songwriter Sondre Lerche has changed course more times than Steve McQueen racing through the streets of San Francisco in Bullitt. It's part of his charm that you never quite know what he's going to do next. From the chamber pop he started out with on his first two albums (including his best until now Two Way Monologue) to the late-night jazz album (Duper Sessions), the punky new wave record (Phantom Punch), and the soundtrack (Dan in Real Life), he's been somewhat of a chameleon. It's also part of his charm that everything he's done up to Heartbeat Radio has been very good. Lerche's songwriting is tricky but light on its feet, emotionally nuanced and quick-witted, too. His voice is rich and sweet, the musicians he plays with are always good, and his musical taste is always spot-on. Heartbeat Radio not only keeps with this tradition, but it's his best work to date. Rather than being some kind of surprising U-turn, the album is a consolidation of everything he's done so far. It has his best songwriting, most effective vocals, and most accomplished sound, and stands as some of the best modern pop around at the end of the decade. Lerche draws from classic sophisticated pop throughout, whether making reference to Prefab Sprout on the wonderfully smooth "I Cannot Let You Go" or Randy Newman on the melancholy "I Guess It's Gonna Rain Today," dipping into loungy atmospheres on the swooning "Like Lazenby," or tripping through the flowers like a lovestruck sunshine pop singer on "Words & Music." He also adds some spunk to the proceedings with cynical slams on the music biz ("Goodnight") and the radio ("Heartbeat Radio") that call to mind Elvis Costello at his most bitter, and peppy rockers like "Don't Look Now" and "Easy to Persuade." It's a well-rounded, extremely listenable album from a really talented singer/songwriter. If this is the style Lerche decides to stick with for a while, that will be cause for a round of hearty cheers from fans of smart, sophisticated guitar pop everywhere. If you are a fan of said music and you don't know Sondre Lerche, this is the place to start the discovery process. ~ Tim Sendra, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
While in the beginning stages of making his film Dan in Real Life, director Peter Hedges went looking for someone to provide music the way Cat Stevens did for Harold and Maude or Simon & Garfunkel for The Graduate, someone to filter the meaning and feel of the movie through his songs. It's hard to argue with his choice; ever since his first record, 2002's Faces Down, Sondre Lerche has proven himself to be a fine chronicler of romantic confusion and winsome melancholy. Lerche was part of the process from almost the very beginning, even attending auditions for main characters and sleeping overnight in the house where the film was shot. The album is made up of a couple of songs from previous albums (a jazzy take on Elvis Costello's "Human Hands" from 2006's Duper Sessions; "Modern Nature," his lovely duet with Lillian Samdal from 2002's Faces Down; and the peppy "Airport Taxi Reception," one of the highlights from 2007's Phantom Punch), plus newly recorded songs. It being a soundtrack, there are several short instrumental pieces, most featuring Lerche on acoustic guitar with subtle backing from pedal steel, trumpet, or piano. They're all very pretty and surely sound nice when sprinkled through the film, but what makes this soundtrack very good are the actual songs Lerche composed for the film. Best of the lot is the lilting and sweet-as-punch "To Be Surprised," but the others are nearly as good, especially "Hell No," a witty duet between Lerche and a very snappy Regina Spektor. Along with short instrumentals, another thing you're sure to find on a soundtrack are stunt covers, easily recognizable songs rendered with a heavy dose of ironic hipness as an easy way to get audiences hooked without seeming like you're pandering to them. Here Lerche adds syrupy strings to Pete Townshend's "Let My Love Open the Door" and escapes pretty harmlessly, but A Fine Frenzy's stilted take on "Fever" makes one wish that Congress would pass a bill banning future covers of the song. At the end, (if you leave off the covers) the soundtrack presents a clear picture of Lerche's talent and the high quality of his songs and performances. It probably won't make him a huge star like soundtrack work did for Stevens and S&G, but it might hook a few people who had never heard of him before. Good for them and good for Lerche. He deserves every break he can get. ~ Tim Sendra, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Sondre Lerche threw his fans for a loop with his last record, the jazzy, low-key Duper Sessions. While it was suitably classy and sophisticated, those who had come to love his snappy and intelligent pop songs were left in the lurch. Phantom Punch marks a return to form, but with some interesting alterations. The record's not as arranged as Two Way Monologue, with less instrumentation on hand and no traces of the soft rock (strings, lush vocal harmonies) that softened that album's edges to great effect. For the most part, it's also louder than previous efforts, with spiky guitars pushed to the fore and Lerche almost snarling out his lyrics at times. While this could have been a recipe for disaster, with the songs sounding forced or phony as Lerche strained to "rock out," instead Phantom Punch is a very successful blend of brains and brawn. Part of this is down to Lerche and his band, the Faces Down, knowing exactly what to play at all times; part of it is down to Lerche's songwriting and arranging skill. The album is laid beginning to end with tough, smart, and hooky songs that don't fade on repeated airings, instant classics like "John Let Me Go" and "Say It All" that are like a blueprint for how to construct a good pop song -- interesting chord changes, subtle shifts in dynamics, witty and wistful lyrics, a vocal that's both forceful and nimble, and a rock-solid chorus with a singalong hook. Just about every song on the album follows a rough approximation of this format, which means they are all gems. Only the sweet acoustic ballad "Tragic Mirror" and the album-ending "Happy Birthday Girl" deviate from the formula; the latter is an epic-length noise ballad that sounds out of place on the album but also packs a sonic and emotional punch. It also displays Lerche's range; much like his recent tour mate Elvis Costello, you get the feeling that he could do just about anything on his next release and make it work. As for Phantom Punch, it lays down incontrovertible proof that Sondre Lerche can make a convincing and exciting straight-ahead modern rock record. ~ Tim Sendra, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Sondre Lerche's third album, 2006's Duper Sessions, is a surprise. Maybe even a shock. Certainly anyone who was expecting him to follow up Two Way Monologue with another great pop record may be disappointed. At first. Once you reconcile yourself to the idea that Lerche has made a jazz-pop record, the songcraft, laid-back approach and Lerche's sweet vocals might just win you over. If the idea of jazz scares you with visions of endless bass solos, rest assured there is minimal soloing as the Faces Down Quartet (Eric Halvorsen on piano, Morten Skage on upright bass, Ole Ludvig Kruger on drums, and Kato Ådland on guitars) provide very subtle and relaxed backing throughout, ensuring that Lerche's intimate vocals and songs are the real stars of the show. While Lerche does an acceptable job on the straight-ahead jazz tunes like "Everyone's Rooting for You," "I'm Not from Here," and " (You Knocked Me) Off My Feet," swinging and crooning with style and soul, the most interesting songs are those that take his usual smart and melodic indie pop songs and give them the acoustic jazz treatment. "Minor Detail" sounds like it could have fit on his previous albums with guitars, "The Curse of Being in Love" is a rollicking pop tune with a country & western undertone, " (I Wanna) Call It Love" gives Lerche a chance to show off the near-perfect arranging skills he honed on Two Way Monologue, and "You Look Swell" is a soulful and tender love song that borrows from classic doo wop song structure. Lerche also gives a couple of covers the jazz treatment, showing Elvis Costello a trick or two on his slinky and swinging cover of "Human Hands," and lightly and politely crooning Prefab Sprout's "Nightingales." There are a couple of moments that don't hold up very well like the cover of "Night and Day" and the cutesy "Across the Land," but for the most part Lerche has made the switch to jazz crooner painlessly. Apart from a similar feel at times, the two don't have all that much in common, one can imagine fans of Jamie Cullum enjoying this record quite a bit. As should fans of Lerche's previous work, if they keep their minds and ears open and give it a chance. ~ Tim Sendra, All Music Guide
'Two Way Monologue'
Release Date 1/1/2003
Tracks 12
Label EMI International
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Sondre Lerche's first album, Faces Down, was bursting with promise. Two Way Monologue fulfills that promise and then some. Right from the beginning of the first song ("Love You" (a brief instrumental that hints at things to come with a sunbursting string arrangement and beautiful chords stacked together like bunches of flowers), it is clear that Lerche has lost some of the tentativeness that made his debut flawed and has blossomed into a pop craftsman of the highest regard. The songs on Two Way Monologue are lyrically mature and sophisticated; the sound of the album is full and arranged perfectly, Lerche effortlessly twists his vocal into falsetto swoops and intimate whispers, and almost every song is worthy of starring on a mix CD made to impress your friends. Songs like the complex "Track You Down" and "Wet Ground" point to a new level of sophistication both in the songwriting and the performance. "Two Way Monologue" is a perfect distillation of Lerche's style and is probably his best song. Starting as an acoustic ballad that shifts into a rollicking pop tune and then into an Astral Weeks-ish ballad and back, it really is an amazing song. Lyrically it is a touch inscrutable, but that is part of his charm as well. What this record has that his debut didn't are the surprises that pop up at regular intervals and add richness to the arrangements: the honking sax on the wonderful "Two Way Monologue," the Beach Boys vocal harmonies throughout, the bongos on "Days That Are Over," the snaky pedal steel on the achingly beautiful "Stupid Memory." This is a record made by people who have a firm grasp on how to construct an album, from Sean O'Hagan and Marcus Holdaway's tasteful string arrangements to HP Gundersen, Andy Robinson, and Jorgen Træen's arrangements to Lerche's stellar production, there is not a weak moment on the album. In fact, if you hear a pop record with better songs, performances, or arrangements in 2004 than Two Way Monologue, then it will have been a great year for music. The record may get lost in the shuffle and noise of the music biz, but if you manage to find it, cherish it because it is a gold record, sales figures be damned. ~ Tim Sendra, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Though he was born in the 1980s, Norwegian singer/songwriter Sondre Lerche seems to want nothing to do with the electronica and pop-punk sounds that fascinate most of his contemporaries; his songs -- with their rich and folky chord progressions, cheesy synth tones, quietly recorded drums, and swooning strings -- sound for all the world like products of the 1960s. Which is by no means a bad thing, especially when he's channeling the Beatles ("You Know So Well") or revisiting Tin Pan Alley ("Modern Nature," in duet with the winning Lillian Samdal) or getting all sentimental and bossa nova ("Virtue and Wine"). The song titles, you will have noticed, do not necessarily bode well for the lyrics; Lerche is not a native English speaker, and his sense of idiom isn't as developed as it probably should be if he's going to write songs in that language (sample couplet: "Once I believed we could approach this/Now I have faith placed in the things you call fate"). But the lyrics are not always embarrassing, and the melodies and arrangements are consistently attractive and involving enough to make up for it when they are. ~ Rick Anderson, All Music Guide
