Posted on: April 24, 2008 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Tobias Froberg – Turn Heads / 2008 Cheap Lullaby / 12 Tracks / http://www.tobiasfroberg.com / http://www.cheaplullaby.com /

Tobias Froberg is an individual that does not care what genre eir ultimately ends up, but tat each and every track on “Turn Heads” is done to catch individual listeners in with hooky music and a compelling set of vocals. This means that a track like “Blissful” has hints of sixties pop, even as a sheik type of indie comes through at other points. The result of this early salvo is that individuals will be focused in to what Froberg has to say during the next eleven tracks on the disc.

“She Is Becoming Here Mother Again” is a track that orients itself much more in the sixties style than what came forth on “Blissful”, and this more sedate and mournful track allows Froberg to take a different tack with subsequent tracks on “Turn heads”, rather than being constrained. This becomes especially important during “Slipping Under The Radar”, which is a song that links together a quicker, punk-influenced instrumentation with the thin, reedy vocals of Froberg. This brings another distinct style to Froberg’s repertoire, and is linked to the rest of the tracks on the disc due to the hypnotic skills and scintillating arrangements present. “Just Behind A Brickwall” is the first of three tracks that features a star of indie rock; this time out, Peter Moren (of Peter, Bjorn and John) enters in to the mix. The addition of a second vocal to the mix is perhaps the best thing that could happen to Froberg, as Peter’s vocals bolster Tobias’s at the perfect time. This time out, the instrumentation is oriented to have a heavy seventies influence, making individuals reminiscence of the days of CSNY. Later duets, featuring Ane Brun and Kathryn Williams, do much to keep individuals interested in what Froberg has.

What is perhaps the disc’s strongest suit has to be the fact that each song during the middle segment of the disc is four or more minutes; where individuals are typically getting weary of a band about this time during an album, Froberg’s continual experimentation and shifting influences are enough to keep individuals tuned in until “Tomorrow” moves back into a more approachable sound. This is indie rock that looks at the last forty or fifty years of music for its influences; Froberg is a tremendous musician, and the resulting compositions are those that will stick with listeners long after “Grace’” ends the album. There is little directly to compare the compositions on this album to, but this is because Froberg approaches all styles equally.

Top Tracks: You Are, Landing

Rating: 6.8/10

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