album of the week: 10.2

Säkert!

På Engelska

(2011)

why you'll love it: Some of 2010's sweetest pop songs, now in English!

why you'll hate it: they're just remakes / they're just love songs

Contrary to what this blog usually implies, not all great pop music in Sweden is on Labrador Records. The cheerfully heartbroken Annika Norlin, is probably the best songwriter around those parts not to be swept up by the label. Her 2005 debut, under the moniker Hello Saferide, was the perfect mix of relatable social anxiety, and humorously exaggerated social insanity. 2008's follow up LP took too much of depressing turn for my liking, but I was keen on her newly formed Swedish speaking project, Säkert!

Säkert! is a bit more serious and ambitious instrumentally (with only a few incredibly catchy pop songs). Her melancholy side fits better here than Hello Saferide. If you prefer the Swedish language to save you from even more modern short stories (pun intended), you might want to dial back a year and check out 2010's Facit instead. Facit slipped under my radar last year, and is retroactively one of my favorites of 2010. This is sort of a make-up review for missing it, as På Engelska is mostly an English translation of that album (+ a few from the Säkert! debut and a couple that seem new).

In any language, Annika has a knack to craft together a real enjoyable song, but for the few of you that must know what the singer is saying at all times, this is something to finally get into this band with. She claims that the lyrics are not re-written, but rather a direct translation, resulting in some enjoyably awkward grammatical hitches. I haven't picked any of those up. The lyrics made perfect sense to me. Sometimes they are a bit too hopelessly romantic for my taste, but I always enjoy her unique perspective, and the band always finds the right tone to match.

Nothing earth-shattering here. If love songs make you gag, then this won't change your mind. Fans of Annika Norlin probably won't get any more of an appreciation for her than they already had, and will probably prefer the songs as they originally were. This album is basically an English welcome mat for Säkert!