Sondre Lerche And The Faces Down Quartet "Duper Sessions" (Astralwerks)
By Tim Den
Friday. May 19, 11:49 AM
Evidence that this young talent has only just begun.

Norwegian singer/songwriter Sondre Lerche has had an ascending career path ever since he appeared on the scene as a barely legal young ‘un a few years ago, but I never found his original material to be anything more than mediocre. I’m a sucker for Scandinavian melodies and aesthetics, but somehow Lerche’s felt vanilla and passive, not nearly convincing enough to make any sort of concrete creative statement. So imagine my surprise when I received Duper Sessions: who knew the kid could be so perfect in a jazz setting? Transforming his own material as well as a few covers into Harry Connick Jr.-esque lounge / jazz pop, Duper Sessions tingles the spirit and romances the sentimentality of listeners, one moment joyously twirling through the roaring ‘20s (secret song “Lulu Vise”), the next whisking you away to Casablanca (“Dead End Mystery”). It conjures up Randy Newman at his most whimsical as well as “Honey Pie” by The Beatles without ripping off either, fully capturing the atmosphere and essence of jazz’s playful pop leanings. I dare say it is irresistible.

Lyrically, Lerche impressively matches the music’s maturity by penning some sophisticated verses that would make Cole Porter proud. While I could spend the rest of this review quoting numerous instances where the prose is mighty fine, it still wouldn’t do them justice. Combined with expertly timed phrasing, Lerche understands how to emit class, sophistication, tongue-in-cheek humor, self-deprecation, and unabashed romanticism with just the right amount of lyrical detail. What emerge are words that not only tailor the music beautifully, but almost take the entire proceeding up a level. Fabulous.

Performance-wise, it is flabbergasting that Lerche And The Face Down Quartet played most of the numbers live without overdubs. It is a testament to the power of jazz musicians. There are almost no flaws in the way the guitar, bass, drums, and keys fly and buzz like butterflies around gorgeously voiced chords and arrangements. Lerche himself proves that there’s good reason why he’s been a critic’s darling since the get-go, dipping in and out of a registers seemingly disparate to create unpredictable yet delicious melodic lines. Quite frankly, I’m a little jealous of how he can pull off such infectious hooks while navigating his voice through difficult turns effortlessly. You can tell no Auto Tune was involved because there are still moments of human slips in his voice, but as-is the slips are extremely minute and almost undetectable to the untrained ear. Add to such expertise an ability to convey rich mood beyond his years, and I’ve been fully converted. This kid is worth every penny.

Duper Sessions, although supposedly only a stopgap “goof off” record until his third proper full-length, is an astonishing accomplishment for Sondre Lerche. Having already conquered many hearts in the singer/songwriter world, he has proven that his talents have only just started to blossom.
www.sondrelerche.com
www.astralwerks.com

Listen to a song from this album in our Radio section!

Click here to buy this album on iTunes!

Click here to download the iTunes jukebox application for Macintosh or Windows!

Tim Den

Got something constructive to say? By all means, rant away. Gonna blab about something unrelated and/or talk shit? Don't expect your comment to stick around.