Swedish songwriter Pelle Carlberg has been making music in bands since 1985, but he recently stepped away from the six-piece he has been touring with called Edson to put out his solo album The Lilac Time. 
The Lilac Time is a quirky and fun album that often reminds me of New Zealanders The Brunettes, especially when backed by female vocals like on “Nicknames”.Â
Carlberg has a lot of influences that he pays tribute to on this album. The album shares its name with another international group and then the song ”1983 (Pelle & Sebastian)” humorously and parenthetically casts Pelle Carlberg in the same light as Belle & Sebastian. His other influences are quite evident in sound, which teeters between Simon & Garfunkel and The Smiths. However, while ”Fly Me to the Moon” is the name of a Frank Sinatra song, this track is all Carlberg. If anything, all the whistling and clapping makes me think of George Harrison‘s ”Here Comes the Sun”.
With all the retro keyboard sounds and acoustic guitars, it is easy to get lost in the cheeriness of the music and wish to share it with all, but listener be warned: sometimes the modernity of the lyrics can be a little shocking. So, while you younger folks might be tempted to play this album for your Simon & Garfunkel loving parents, they might be confused by what a “test on facebook” means or thrown off by the lyrics in the short “Stockholm vs Paris”, which states, “Dog shit in Paris is special and dog shit in Stockholm is shit.”
Pelle Carlberg’s The Lilac Time is available now.
Tracklisting:
01. 1983 (Pelle and Sebastian)
02. Nicknames
03. Whisper
04. Animal Lovers
05. Metal to Metal
06. Because I’m Worth It
07. Stockholm vs. Paris
08. Fly Me to the Moon
09. 51
10. Tired of Being PC
Pelle Carlberg: website | myspace
Written by: Bethany
