Let Me Introduce My Friends
Label: Mute
Length: LP
Media: CD
Format: Album
WorkNameSort: Let Me Introduce My Friends
Let Me Introduce My Friends is not the work of Barcelonians, but Swedish songwriter Emanuel Lundgren did indeed ask 28 ‘friendsâ?� to contribute to his full-length debut as I’m From Barcelona. It’s straight Tommy James’like fluff, with shimmering instrumentation firmly entrenched in handclaps, banjos, brass and more. After a small dose of I’m From Barcelona’s idealism, Sweden seems paved with peppermints and chocolate ‘ a traffic-free fantasyland where everyone celebrates simple pleasures like Big League Chew and air conditioning. Forget the pain of getting 28 people to rehearse; ‘Treehouseâ?� is bubbly, bright pop, and ‘Oversleepingâ?� buries an important moral about alarm clocks in its lush exterior. Lundgren’s monotone delivery clashes with helpers as willing as the Manson family who wield trusty percussion and multitracked choral euphoria. Theme song ‘We’re From Barcelonaâ?� rides a single guitar-lick jingle so likable it could sell crack at a church bingo game, and the starry-eyed, creepy choir that chants, ‘We’ll aim for the stars, we’ll aim for your heart when the night comes,â?� might someday garner the kind of cult following whose headlines are a little less ‘musicâ?� and a little more ‘mass suicide.â?� Yikes.
This article appears in Mar 21-27, 2007.