Archive for the ‘Anders Elowsson’ Category
Anders Elowsson – It Used to Feel So Good
The first thing that drew me to Anders Elowsson was his voice. It’s a bit gaspy and high-pitched, with a Bob Dylan touch to it. Bob Dylan doesn’t have the conventional “beautiful” voice, but what makes it beautiful is the different quality in itself—and I feel the same could be said for Anders Elowsson. Anders Elowsson is an indie folk pop artist from Sweden whose influences are (not surprisingly) Bob Dylan and the Mamas and the Papas. His debut album, It Used to Feel So Good, will be released digitally April 7, 2008.
His music centres around the feel good folk pop genre…sort of the music you drive to on an empty highway when you’re on some summer road trip just before it hits nightfall, with your windows down and the soft wind blowing in your hair…where you’re in a state of nirvana and an ever-lasting peace with yourself. Yeah. There’s definitely a Bob Dylan feel—almost like a contemporary Bob Dylan band, with some country influences (the infamous country slide techniques and percussions), catchy harp accompaniments, electric/acoustic instrumentation mixes, etc., but for what Bob Dylan stands for, this really doesn’t cut it. I almost feel like I’ve been shafted here, only because people remember Dylan for his lyrical genius (that is, the main focus is the lyrics). Dylan is like the epitome of antifolk, so when I hear about an artist who considers Dylan as an influence, I start to expect heavy lyrical focus. This is not really the case for Anders Elowsson. His music is pretty catchy, but it’s not really what I would consider “Dylan-esque.” I think this is what makes Elowsson stand out more as a pop artist than of a folk rock one. His lyrics are sort too conventional–too into that romancing puppy love sort of theme, with love lost and love regained, etc., etc. There is also more of a focus on the instrumentation itself, with the lyrics set more as an accompaniment.
That being said, this album isn’t bad at all. The tunes are good, but not something I would get deep into. This album, to me, is more of something I’d find on the radio and keep listening to for the hell of it. In fact, I could not listen to the album more than once; it’s not intense enough (lyrically and musically) to really focus in on, it’s more of just background music for whatever you’re doing.
And contrary to what his Myspace says, he really doesn’t sound like a transistor radio from 1965. His tunes are recorded with what seems like hi-fi quality (and most likely with a bunch of overlaying) to sound like a radio from the ’60s. Sorry…but it’s still catchy!
We’re only allowed to stream one of the tracks from this album, but fortunately enough, it is the essence of the entire album, so if you’re trying to get a feel of what this album sounds like, check it out:
Click here to purchase this album!
