Welcome to the imaginatively-titled Record of the Week, we're back from holiday and ready to get back to it. While we were gone, the Randomizer picked out Lykke Li's 2011 album, Wounded Rhymes. This 10th anniversary release is spinning on my turntable today.
My first encounter with Lykke Li was in 2008, on the Swedish Pop Girls tour, when she toured with El Perro del Mar and Anna Ternheim. At the time, I didn't know of her (or Anna Ternheim). I loved El Perro del Mar (that first album is still magnificent) and I wanted to see her. Someone told me to make sure to get there early to see Anna Ternheim and Lykke Li. So glad I followed that advice. Anna Ternheim was excellent, I haven't seen her since then. I don't think she tours out here much but I'd definitely go if the chance came up. El Perro del Mar was the headliner (she was great), but Lykke Li stole the show.
Playing the middle set, she came out like she was playing to a giant stadium crowd, whipped us into a frenzy and kept the party going. Her debut album, Youth Novels (2008), had just dropped some months earlier and her set pretty much focused on those songs. She wrapped it up with an encore cover of Tribe's Can I Kick It that left the crowd delirious. Fucking killed it.
Wounded Rhymes is her second album. To me, there are a couple things she excels at. First is big choruses. The kind you belt out like you're trying to exorcise some demon out of you. The kind that you sing along with all the people who are standing with you in this shared experience. It's not all the time on every song, she knows how to dial it back, but you know it when it happens. It's exhilarating. Youth Knows No Pain. I Follow Rivers. Get Some. Sadness is a Blessing. Jerome. If these don't sweep you up, then I don't know what else to say.
Secondly, Lykke Li is so good at channeling longing and heartbreak. Love Out of Lust. Unrequited Love. Sadness is a Blessing. I Know Places. Every time I hear these, I'm like goddamn girl, tell me who the fuck hurt you because I will go beat their ass. Her next album, I Never Learn (2014), is ALL heartbreak. Holy crap, it's so good but so sad. Incredible album, maybe my fave of hers. This one is really good and I feel like she just gets better with each album. Really, all of her albums are worth a listen, and she just released a new one last month, The Afterparty. Definitely give her a shot.