Lately I’ve been tired of all the same old indie pop stuff that just seems to be recycled over and over but there is something about Youth Novels and its combination of wonderful pop hooks, the beautiful and airy minimal production, and the fragility that seeps into the vocals of Swedish singer-songwriter Lykke Li. Youth Novels is Lykke Li’s debut full-length and a damn good one at that. The record was produced by none other than Bjorn Yttling (of Peter, Bjorn, & John) who (unsurprisingly) uses many of the same sonic textures he does on his own record and Lasse Marten (who produced Kelly Clarkson’s hit “Since U Been Gone”) so it doesn’t surprise me that it sounds both adventurous and sugar-coated.
Maybe it is the restraint that both Yttling and Lykke Li show on the album by crafting sugary sweet melodies and danceable pop tracks that aren’t dumbed down for mass consumption or maybe it is sparseness of the arrangements, but Youth Novels comes across as so much more than just your average indie pop album. It is a gloriously playful yet intimate album that really is really good. Li can sound sexy, vulnerable, or distantly cold depending on the song and all while I honestly wouldn’t have thought I’d like Youth Novels much at all, but hey, what can you do?
MP3 | Lykke Li – Dance Dance Dance Youth Novels
MP3 | Lykke Li – Little Bit Youth Novels
