Sondre Lerche and the Faces Down Quartet “Duper
Sessions” Astralwerks Records
A lot of pop music flirts with the influences that inspired its
artist. It catches a seventh chord here and there and people can
call it jazzy, or the lyrics tell a story and automatically it
becomes folk. But more often than not, the similarities are
superficial and the songs, overall, more a reflection of the
diversity within music today than an homage to the quality of music
from the past. But with his third album, “Duper
Sessions,” 23-year-old Norwegian pop singer Sondre Lerche and
his band, the Faces Down Quartet, don’t just flirt with the
music that influenced him, they wholly embrace it from beginning to
end. With tracks like the twirling “Human Hands,” to
the (ironically?) jovial “The Curse of Being in Love,”
Lerche creates a jazz-based album most appropriately enjoyed, it
seems, dancing on the boardwalk with daiquiris in hand. He directly
and unapologetically tips his top hat to the iconic songwriters to
whom he had been only superficially compared, like Burt Bacharach
and Cole Porter. This theme allows Lerche to focus the centers of
the songs on their musicality rather than merely their topical
appeal. Interspersed between the verses, the Quartet adds confident
and crisp improvisations as Lerche pushes the melody out of the
expected key, like in a show tune, while still holding on to the
listener’s attention. Of course, if Lerche were an exact
reflection of his predecessors, there would be little point to this
album. But he is not. He adds his own charms into the pieces: his
buoyant and honeyed voice; a sharp and clean-cut electric guitar
where there would typically be a piano or a woodwind instrument; a
playful and personal twist on the lovesick lyrical style. Because
of these qualities, the album is fresh and genuinely jazzy. But
because of this, Lerche at times can impair the success of the
songs, occasionally pushing too hard toward chord creativity or
crossing the line between sweet and saccharine. So is Sondre Lerche
the next Burt Bacharach? No, probably not. But is “Duper
Sessions” one of the most swinging and carefree albums
released this year (with or without the daiquiri)? Yes, it very
much is.