Hello Saferide, Hello #1-2008

«People are like songs, it’s true».

With that statement Annika Norlin and her Hello Saferide start this set. And I think she is quite a song herself. Her tales are all small (honest?) stories, with narrative twists and turns - and they have a very direct feel to them. They are in fact almost painfully open. After listening very quietly (sic) to «I Wonder Who Is Like This One» it was the opening chords of the second track «2008» that made me understand this would be a sweet experience. Sweet as in affectionate, mind you; not at all as in sticky and sugary.

The melodies are (primarily) light-hearted, but the lyrics add unusual depth. Some of these Modern Short Stories remind me of «Luka» by Suzanne Vega, a song which still reminds me of a carefree summer (before I actually started listening to its lyrics), and which I then learned was not supposed to fill me with the joy the melody surrounding its words had offered. (However, I admit hearing «Luka» these days still makes me pleased that sad songs can be wrapped in such joyful music.) And Annika Norlin has the same ability as Suzanne Vega, providing uplifting music accompanied by stories about the more strenuous parts of life. The mentioned «2008», together with «Lund», «Anna», «Parenting Never Ends» and «X Telling Me About The Loss Of Something Dear, At Age 16» are all songs that more than qualify with me – songs that jolt the grading system provided by iTunes. (Like Mr. Yan Friis, when he in a state of euphoria handed The Waterboys «Fisherman’s Blues» approximately 40 out of 6 possible stars in his review in the Norwegian magazine «Det Nye» back in 1988.)

I’m aware of that there may have been released other albums this year that will stand the test of time better than «More Modern Stories From Hello Saferide», but this – my choice – is about which album that reached me most notably in 2008. And there are no doubts about which album that is.

Hello Saferide and Annika Norlin at Wikipedia.

Hear her here at LastFM and MySpace.

Tracklist:
01. «I Wonder Who Is Like This One» – 3:01
02. «2008» – 4:04
03. «Overall» – 2:47
04. «Lund» – 3:15
05. «X Telling Me About The Loss Of Something Dear, At Age 16» – 3:30
06. «Middleclass» – 3:53
07. «Parenting Never Ends» – 3:31
08. «Anna» – 3:10
09. «25 Days» – 4:04
10. «Sancho Panza» – 1:49
11. «Travelling With HS» – 2:40
12. «Arjeplog» – 4:25