Anna Ternheim, Leaving on a Mayday (Universal Music, 2008)

Swedish singer Anna Ternheim made a very big initial impression with me last year when a self-titled six song EP of older material became her first American release. Halfway to Fivepoints, a full-length album that also contained older material, followed within a few months. In 2008 she recorded an album of brand new songs called Leaving on a Mayday. The new album was released in Sweden late last year, has just been released in the rest of Europe, and presumably will get to America soon.

Ternheim goes in a very different musical direction on Leaving on a Mayday than the dark folk and alternative of her previous efforts. While I always respect performers who aren't afraid to try new things, the change just doesn't work here. Producer Björn Yttling repeatedly tries to pair Ternheim's subtle alto and deliberate delivery with hyperactively busy percussion, and the result is more like oil and water than chocolate and peanut butter. Too often her voice gets overwhelmed by what's going on around her, whether it's the drumming or, in the case of "Let It Rain," a single note played over and over on the piano. Other additions, like strings and a group of backing singers, could have been used to better effect, but the arrangements generally lacked imagination.

Fortunately, Ternheim's songwriting remains strong enough to at least salvage the album. "Summer Rain," with Ternheim's guitar providing the only accompaniment, is a gorgeous track even though the backing vocals sound a bit crowded. Other highlights include "Off the Road," the other percussion-free song on the album, and the haunting closer "Black Sunday Afternoon." With songs like "Let It Rain" and "Losing You," though, you can't help thinking that they could have been much more effective if done differently.

And that's what makes this album frustrating; too many songs deserved better treatment than they got. Leaving on a Mayday is a textbook example of how not to produce an album. Anna Ternheim is a top-notch singer who brought a strong assortment of songs to the table, and yet somehow the result is a so-so recording. That should not have happened.

Overall grade: B-

reviewed by Scott

A vocals only version of "Summer Rain"

Top 10 CD's of 2008

Another year has come and gone, so once again it's time to go over my favorite CD's of the past year.

10. Danelia Cotton, Rare Child: A little funk, a little rock, and a powerful voice make for a winning formula.







9. Mudcrutch: Tom Petty breaks a bit from his usual formula, and the result is one of his strongest albums in quite some time.







8. La Rocca, OK Okay: These three Irishmen and one Englishman are superior pop craftsman that I expect to be hearing a lot from in the future.






7. Dion, Heroes: Legends of Early Guitar Rock: This is an absolute delight for people with even a moderate interest in 50's music.






6. Fleet Foxes: This highly touted debut justifies the hype.









5. Týr, Ragnarok: By combining heavy metal with folk music and a great concept, Týr have put the Faroe Islands on the musical map.






4. Anna Ternheim: Yes, the EP was better than the full-length album that followed. Ternheim just released an album of all-new material in Sweden in November, so look for it to reach these shores soon.




3. The Ditty Bops, Summer Rains: It may not be the list-topper that Moon Over the Freeway was two years ago, but it's still another solid effort from the charmingly subversive duo.





2. Sam Phillips, Don't Do Anything: Phillips has always been at her best when she's been at her most cathartic, and there's plenty of catharsis to go around on this record.





1. The Born Again Floozies, Street Music: Stubborn defiance meets great songwriting. Fly your freak flag high!







reviewed by Scott

Anna Ternheim, Halfway to Fivepoints (Decca, 2008)

A couple of months ago, Anna Ternheim released a self-titled EP which I reviewed very favorably here. The six songs on Anna Ternheim were gleaned from two full-length albums and a handful of EP's that have been available in her native Sweden and the rest of Europe for a while, but the EP was her debut American release. A full-length album and tour were promised for the spring, and Halfway to Fivepoints came out in late April. Most of the songs on Halfway to Fivepoints were also previously released in Europe, but a few tracks are new. But the album reflects the same remarkable songwriting ability that caused me to rate the EP so highly.

Everything I say about Anna Ternheim needs to come with the disclaimer that all her songs come from a very dark place. Ternheim's work follows in the footsteps of the early recordings of Sarah McLachlan and Beth Orton, in that she taps into emotional depths that most people would just as soon pretend aren't there. However, despite English not being her native language, Ternheim combines a stark lyrical directness with a great poetic sensibility, to a degree that McLachlan and Orton can't match. The subject matter of the lyrics is often quite intense, and Ternheim frequently sings from the perspective of characters who don't necessarily reflect herself or are even admirable. On "Bridges," for example, Ternheim takes on the role of the controlling person in a very unhealthy relationship. On "Such A Lonely Soul," the woman in the song contemplates how to keep her lover's wife in the dark about what's going on. "Why trouble her lonely soul, she doesn't have to know, why tell her, it would hurt her so," Ternheim sings with no small amount of irony. Even the happiest song on the album, "Today Is a Good Day," is about a break-up.

Musically, Ternheim and producer Andreas Dählback aim for a cross between folk and alternative. Ternheim generally sounds more in her element on the quieter material, both with her own compositions and with her cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Little Lies." Like her cover of "China Girl" on the EP, Ternheim sings "Little Lies" in her own distinct style, and the cover is both radically different from, and considerably more compelling than, the original. On the album's best track "No Subtle Men," Ternheim sings about continuing to turn suitors away even though she's not so young anymore, and the conflict of emotions that result. By contrast, the arrangements on the album's rock songs don't always do the lyrics justice. "To Be Gone," an otherwise strong song about teenage depression, felt too retrained to be, while the electric version of "Lovers Dream" sounds cluttered compared to the stunning orchestrated acoustic version the was released on the EP.

In fact, despite having twice as many songs as the EP, Halfway to Fivepoints isn't quite as good. The EP's two strongest songs, "I'll Follow You Tonight" and "My Secret," are both better than anything included here. I also didn't see the point of having two songs overlap on both releases, and I'm really sorry they didn't include the song "Better Be" that I've seen on YouTube. Having said all that, Halfway to Fivepoints is still a solid release, full of extremely well written but very challenging, unnerving songs that are both beautiful and brutal in their emotional impact.

Overall grade: A-

reviewed by Scott

Anna Ternheim (Decca Records, 2007)

Although Swedish songstress Anna Ternheim has released two full-length albums in Europe, this self-titled EP is her first American release. This EP may only have six songs running twenty-three minutes, but it was enough to convince me that Anna Ternheim is one of the best singer-songwriters going right now.

The album opens with a song called "Lovers Dream (Naked Version)." An alternate version, for which a video exists, was a single off of Ternheim's 2006 album Separation Road. The arrangement for this version consists only of an acoustic guitar and some orchestration beneath the vocals, but the overall effect is simply stunning. The shifting between major and minor keys, combined with some complex chord progressions, evokes some of Nick Drake's stronger material and carries a similar emotional potency. Ternheim's voice is a bit dry, but she really knows how to write melodies that not only bring out the best qualities in her singing, but enable her to effectively haunt the listener without overextending her vocal range. The second song "Bridges" is the EP's one new track. While this song features a more standard rock backing than the first one, the lyrics are actually a bit disturbing; Ternheim assumes the perspective of a person on the controlling end of what is clearly not a healthy relationship. The dissonant arrangement and harsh electric guitar further enhance the song's creepy, unsettling feel. The irony continues with "Today Is A Good Day," a happy breakup song that was another single off of Separation Road. Again, Ternheim shows a mastery of chordal structure well beyond her experience.

On "I'll Follow You Tonight," a single off her first album Somebody Outside, Ternheim sings about sticking with somebody one night longer, against her own better judgement. In addition to having a great melody in her distinctive style, this song reflects a remarkable sense of poetic balance, especially coming from a writer whose first language is not English. "And I'll follow you to any doorstep, any hallway, with hope of finding more, and not get shallow, not get bored, and find it useless, feeling meaningless, and just as low as I was high the night before." The EP also includes one cover, David Bowie's "China Girl." Ternheim does the song her way, not only bearing little similarity beyond the words to the original, but almost making you think that Bowie had intended for her to sing it all along. The last and most accessible song on the disc is "My Secret," also off of Somebody Outside. Even with an uncharacteristically positive love song, Ternheim seems to be cognizant of the risks involved. Still, this song is very catchy and singable.

Like Beth Orton, Anna Ternheim is not the kind of singer you go to when you're in the mood for some feel-good fluff. An evidently displeased poster below a YouTube video of another of her songs suggested that "People that can write such lyrics should be locked up." But I've always found dark music to be therapeutic, and the songs on this EP compare favorably with Orton's best songs. Given how highly I regard Orton's albums like Central Reservation and Daybreaker, that's saying a hell of a lot. I wouldn't rate Anna Ternheim quite as highly as I'd rate Pina, my favorite performer of the decade, at least not yet -- the originality in Pina's music and vocals still takes the cake. But Anna Ternheim is the superior lyricist, and like Pina she has a scary amount of raw talent. This EP would have been no worse than #2 on my top 10 list for 2007, and it already sets the bar for 2008 pretty high.

Overall grade: A

reviewed by Scott