Rating: NNN
The third album from the Swedish pop duo of Sally Shapiro and producer Johan Agebjörn expands their repertoire from Italo-disco into pastoral twee pop, electro-funk and easy listening with help from outside producers Le Prix, Anoraak and Electric Youth (of Drive soundtrack fame).
Their 2006 debut, Disco Romance, established the limelight-averse Shapiro as one of the more enjoyable voices in pop. Her singing has a coolly plaintive, porous quality that can suit a variety of genres, but she also has a conversational delivery and taste for whimsical melodies, which play out like a cross between R&B siren Cassie and Altered Images’ Clare Grogan.
While the songwriting is more varied here than on previous LPs (Shapiro sometimes causes rather than experiences heartbreak), the pop hooks don’t always ascend to the maximal sound they aim for. Standouts include the Anoraak-led Don’t Be Afraid, Sade-style ballad Sundown and impeccably produced Italo bangers If It Doesn’t Rain and Architecture Love.
Top track: Don’t Be Afraid (alternative version)
