Product Description

'Writers Block' is the third album from Swedish trio Peter,Bjorn and John. Recorded in Bjorn's studio in Hornstull, Stockholm the album sees the trio take a new direction by moving away from the straight-forward indie-pop of their previous releases, this time opting for a more varied sound encompassing many genres including indie, pop, R&B, funk and soul. The single 'Young Folks' is also included.

Track Listing

1. Writer's Block
2. Objects Of My Affection
3. Young Folks - Peter Bjorn & John/Victoria Bergsman
4. Amsterdam
5. Start To Melt
6. Up Against The Wall
7. Paris 2004
8. Let's Call It Off
9. Chills
10. Roll The Credits
11. Poor Cow

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2897 in Music
• Released on: 2006-08-14
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
As fine an album as this might be (and indeed it is), it serves a much higher purpose for which it must be immediately recognised. The twee Swedish trio have single-handedly tugged whistling out of popular music's pits where it was stuffed by German soft metal granddads The Scorpions back in the early 90s. It's not even particularly proficient whistling - it's a bit skewiff really, a little out of tune - but it's tacked onto the irresistibly bobbing, Velvet-Underground-via-The-Concretes infectiousness of "Young Folks", augmented by the warm-ember vocals of ex-Concrete Victoria Bergsman herself, and by association sounds fairly heroic. Accidentally anthemic, perhaps, but anthemic nonetheless. Result.

Which sets a tone for the rest of this off-kilter lo-fi record. Draw a slightly wonky line from Simon & Garfunkel through to The Shins, making sure you take in the sharp Scandinavian indie-pop of the '90s (Wannadies, The Cardigans) and modern day peers (Radio Dept, Shout Out Louds) and you have a folk album that isn't really all that folk, swimming through its own dreamy washes of ambition. The drumming on tracks like "Let's Call It Off" and "Paris 2004" is so elementary you might as well add your own, but it keeps the intuitive, simplistic 60's beat melodies trickling steadily onwards. The underlying appeal is that things could snap like an elastic band at any moment, that things are beautifully limited. Less writers block, more loving the detail of your first chapter so much you have no inclination to move on. --James Berry

Customer Reviews

Refreshing and different
This is an album I bought a month or so ago. I absolutely 'love' this album.
I first heard about them on the music channels, where their recently released single 'Young Folks' was played. I love this catchy song, so bought the album, never having heard anything else by this group or even knowing they existed before.
There's only a couple of songs on the album I skip past, the rest are really good in my opinion.
My favorite songs on the album are; Young Folks, Objects Of My Affection, Amsterdam, Let's call It Off.

It's very different from what's out atm, and catchy.

boring
what rubbish. i was playing it in the car and didn't even realise i had it on. well, not until i was getting annoyed with something, then realised it was this album. the drumming is terrible for a start, the songs go nowhere and just repeat one after the other, there's barely a difference in any of them, other than Amsterdam, which is the main reason i bought it, and young folks. both well worth listening to, therefore one star.

my recommendation is don't buy it. don't even borrow it from your mates. then again i bet your mates wouldn't admit to owning it, i'm not going to.

I have writers' block
Swedish pop group Peter Bjorn and John are apparently trying to confuse us, and for a brief time, it works.

Their third album "Writer's Block" has the misfortune to open on a rather saggy note, but fortunately hoists itself up for a blurry blend of indiepop and northern atmospheric synth. So straggle through the first two tracks, because the indiepop that follows is solid, multilayered and quite enjoyable.

It opens with a faint, atmospheric little track that sounds like Sigur Ros tuning up. Then suddenly it careens into nonstop guitar pop in "Object of My Affection," with drums pounding right over those steely riffs. "And you still can make sense/if you just show up and present an honest face/instead of that grin," Peter Morén sings happily.

Not only is it a lot simpler than the other songs, but I got a headache from those relentless drums and guitar. At that point I was groaning, anticipating a whole album of the same. But I was wrong.

Things start perking up with the shimmying, sunny indiepop of "Young Folks," which has some enchantingly feathery edges and constant whistling. The other songs have a similar mix of shimmery keyboard and solid indiepop -- thumpy little marches, swirling psychedelic hymns, gentle ballads blooming into driving guitarpop, folksy ballads, and the shimmering prettiness of "The Chills."

For your info, there is no Peter Bjorn -- it's actually "Peter, Bjorn and John," three Swedish guys who play the instruments and all provide vocals. And despite a couple of mediocre songs on "Writer's Block," these guys really know how to make great indiepop -- lots of northern wind and snow, and a delightfully sunny 1970s pop mentality.

There's plenty of ringing, peppy guitar and unstoppable bass from Morén and Björn Yttling, while John Eriksson provides some fast drumming as well. Yttling swaddles almost all the melodies in a hazy edge of soft, colourful synth, and turning some of them into bittersweet, chilly pop. Most of the songs are pretty upbeat, even with a bit of harmonica and whistling to remind us to be cheery.

Much of the album is about sort of ambiguous -- half of it seems to be about breaking up with a lover, and the other half is about how much you adore them. "Your tongue is sharp/but I miss the taste of it/You said time heals/there's not enough of it..." Moren sings in his slightly nasal voice. It's just a few songs after, "Hours seems to disappear/everyone is leaving -- I'm still with you."

"Writer's Block" has a couple tracks that don't quite fit in, but the overall album is a delicious blend of cheery pop melodies and blurry keyboard. Definitely a good listen.