edson | Every Moment Has A Song

Edson: “Sunday, Lovely Sunday” (1999)

Pelle Carlberg and Edson make a Scandinavian Sunday afternoon sound like a little slice of heaven.

Sundays are slow
Never pretentious, oh no
Silent and closed
And we don’t really have to know where to go

Holding hands with the one I love
She wears mittens, I wear gloves
There must be someone above
Holding hands with the one I love
We could catch a picture show
Rent a Sunday video
We could stay out in the snow
Sunday slow

Sundays are meant
To let the quilt become a tent
Sundays well-spent
Don’t need a reason, no intent

Recommended Albums #26

Edson: Every Day, Every Second (2003)

Swede Pelle Carlberg named his Indie pop band after soccer great Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pelé. Don’t ask me why–probably just for kicks.

The band’s Every Day, Every Second is full of the kinds of melodies that you may wake up still hearing after listening the night before. It’s hauntingly tuneful stuff.

Pelle and company remind me of the Decemberists in several ways: first, Carlberg’s dialect and voice have a distinctiveness that I imagine could put some off, while endearing others. There’s also something in the imperfection of his reaching for the high notes and wavering just a bit here and there–I don’t think it’s meant to sound perfect, only to put across the song. And the voice certainly does that.

Also, there’s a European-ness just here and there in the melodies and instrumentation that the Decemberists share (despite being American).

Give this one three listens and it’ll have you. And if you like it, check out some of Pelle Carlberg’s solo stuff too:

Listen to: “And Then She Flung Me the Truth”