Before you waste any more precious eyeball moisture on this record review, stop and look at that face. Framed by stringy, grunge-rock hair, it's the face of Stockholm's Andreas Kleerup, already one of the most internationally successful players involved in Sweden's current reign as global pop incubator. Perhaps unlike, say, Robyn, Peter Bjorn and John, ex-Concretes singer Victoria Bergsman, or Jens Lekman, you probably don't recognize him-- by name or by face. All right, then. That's why they call this an introduction.
If you know Kleerup already, you probably first heard about him as producer of Robyn's 2006 single "With Every Heartbeat", an orchestral electropop ballad full of soulful melodies and the queasy emotional conflict of a breakup that hurts every bit as much as you know it's right. Re-released last year in the UK, the song went to the top of the charts, and the new U.S. single has done well on domestic dance and singles sales charts this year as well. After the Robyn coup came remixes for Shout Out Louds, the Concretes, and others, along with a collaboration on the latest Cyndi Lauper album (seriously).
Kleerup's self-titled album-- currently import-only outside of Sweden-- marks his solo debut, though he has appeared on a few scattered releases (including a remix of the Tough Alliance) as a member of an electropop trio called the Meat Boys. The CD booklet offers seven more portraits of the artist's unsmiling face, each about the same except for different color schemes or shadows. The album itself puts Kleerup's best face forward, featuring "With Every Heartbeat" plus 11 other home-recorded songs; aside from several completely solo excursions, the tracks stay pretty much within the same computer-plus-Swedish-chanteuse template. Good thing it's an enjoyable template.
"With Every Heartbeat" still sounds devastating here, and the other collaborations take a similarly lovelorn path. The best is "Until We Bleed", with up-and-comer Lykke Li, which again relies on strings and a house beat, this time with frazzled synths coaxing out the volatility that distinguishes Li from her peers. It's as good an introduction to the singer as anything on her estimable, Bjorn Yttling-produced debut, Youth Novels. The Concretes' Lisa Milberg brings the gentle anguish and pop-oriented lyrics of her group's latest, Hey Trouble, to "Music for Girl", which sounds like the Knife doing Motown: "The songs, you know, they never leave you for another." Closer to the Robyn track's bright expressiveness are lonesome, Italo-tinged comedown "3AM", with Marit Bergman (who has also been produced by Yttling, including on a 2002 debut titled 3.00 A.M. Serenades) and Titiyo-sung second single "Longing for Lullabies". Titiyo's older sister, none other than Neneh Cherry, strikes a vague, awkwardly worded political stance on children's choir-assisted "Forever", though her smoky voice still resonates.
Kleerup's tracks without guests are the real revelation. "Thank You for Nothing" is another standout, with the producer's own wounded vocal repeating within whirring beats. "On My Own Again" takes a peppy John Hughes-film left turn, with the cheeriest synths on the album and ramshackle acoustic guitars. The instrumentals-- from hard-charging, Simian Mobile Disco-esque opener "Hero" to fragile, ambient-leaning finale "I Just Want to Make That Sad Boy Smile"-- don't break the momentum. Look at that album cover again. Yep, it's the face of a guy who just recorded an accomplished, cohesive debut, one that should please fans of "blog house" and Swedish pop alike. Now if only he owned a razor.
