Sondre Lerche "Phantom Punch" (Astralwerks)
By Kimberly Rosenbauer
Wednesday. Feb 14, 2:34 AM
Putting a little groove in his step.

Around the time Sondre Lerche first stepped onto the American music scene with his debut Faces Down, my friend and I saw him open for another band. We didn’t get it. What was a Norwegian teenager doing playing on an enormous and sparkly blue Buddy Holly-type guitar and singing what seemed to us as lounge songs put to folk/pop music?

Lerche’s music definitely has a sophistication to it that was clearly ahead of my musical ears at the time. On his third full-length, Duper Sessions, he delved even deeper into those kitschy lounge-type jazzy songs. Still, I soon came to appreciate the style that was all his own. On his latest, Phantom Punch (released by the invincible Astralwerks), Lerche covertly reveals his master musical plan that works to create cohesion among all of his albums. He seamlessly marries together his signature folk/pop sounds with rock “punch,” which both surprised and impressed me immensely.

The tracks still have, at their core, Lerche’s smooth and swingy melodies, but this time are surrounded by and layered with varying drum rhythms, guitar riffs, and very danceable beats that are sure to please anyone.

On “The Tape,” Lerche sings his lyrics quickly over steady guitar chords that create energy and excitement. Already you can hear how much he has grown as a musician. To be able to evolve your musical style while still holding on to your identity as an artist is not an easy feat. Lerche achieves this on a surface level by using heavier guitars and faster rhythms, and on a deeper level by choosing to work with producer Tony Hoffer who has worked with artists such as Beck, Belle & Sebastian, Air, and Supergrass.

We still hear classic Sondre songs, too. “Tragic Mirror” is just Lerche alone on his guitar telling a story about a “man scared to look at himself for too long.” As it sounds like many of the songs on Lerche’s first two albums, it serves as a benchmark for where he has been and the range of styles he sets forth on Phantom Punch. A range that includes the likes of “Well, Well, Well”: sounding straight out of a ‘60s spy movie, until the chorus when the intensity sparks and – for a fleeting few measures – becomes a full-blown rock song.

Phantom Punch is certainly an album that most any listener can enjoy because of its variability and accuracy, and thus, it’s an album that can exist yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Rock on, Sondre.
www.sondrelerche.com
www.astralwerks.com

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Kimberly Rosenbauer

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