Lykke Li / Wounded Rhymes / Warner
“Rather die in your arms than die lonesome,” professes Lykke Li over an emphatic beat, proving her appetite for dark illustrations is no rumor. Where 2008’s Youth Novels gently touched the shadows of indie’s elite, Wounded Rhymes embraces sorrow and the indescribable feeling where the organ in the left side of your chest sinks into a dark place and thoughts of heartache litter your mind. The theme seems overplayed, especially to the tween admirers devoted to the cult called “Pop Music”, but the way the Swedish recording artist exhales misery is almost alien.
Barbaric yet divine, Li force feeds the chill of a broken heart through every obsessive hook. “Get Some” and “Sadness Is A Blessing” commit to their radio hit wardrobe while the vulnerable tracks glow. “I Follow Rivers” gets primal whereas “I Know Places” slashes with a naked tone, oddly reminiscent of the fragility one was able to find in Bright Eyes recordings. Even “Rich Kids Blues”, a mid-album track with a chorus almost like a drug, leaks a mournful composition. The 24-year-old voice is no rock star; look at every one of the ten tracks and it’s apparent, Lykke Li doesn’t push sex appeal and lacks a recognizable image. She is however, an explosive vice.
Download: “Jerome”, “I Know Places”
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Not bad review, but you listen to a lot of girl bands.
You need a bromance.