I’d never listened to Jens Lekman or Annika Norlin before I reviewed this album, and it appears I haven’t been missing much. ‘Correspondence’ is the end product of a year-long project where, each month of 2018, the Swedish singer-songwriters took turns writing letters to each other in the form of song.
While Lekman’s voice is similar to Nick Drake’s, his lyrics are clunky and unfocused, making his tracks the weakest on the album. Norlin’s tracks aren’t much better, but they do sound a bit like Regina Spektor with sprinklings of The Moldy Peaches.
Each track has a string score behind it, which actually shows off the bad songwriting. The sound is pleasant at times, but the lyrics do not match ambiance the strings are doing their best to provide.
At this point I’d try to identify a notable track, but they just aren’t any. Personally, this is currently the worst album I’ve listened to this year – and I’ve listened to ’90s era Bee Gees, which are pretty bad, but slightly better than this.
Score: 📨/5
EDITOR’S NOTE: This review caused a fierce debate at MMC, with some defending the honor and idiosyncratic songwriting of Jens Lekman and Annika Norlin. Thankfully blood was not shed.
Brendan is an avid record collector from Adelaide, Australia and the man behind the @ridges_and_grooves. There are few genres he won’t listen to. His search for the best album of all time through process of elimination continues.