Heartbeat Radio

iTunes Review

Norwegian singer-songwriter Sondre Lerche doesn’t stay in the same musical place very long. So far in his young career Lerche has recorded intimate indie-pop, jazz stylings, and late-‘70s inspired new-wave rock. For 2009’s Heartbeat Radio, he’s employed the High Llamas’ Sean O’Hagan for horn and string arrangements that cast the songs under an ornate baroque pop light. The wild orchestration takes hold on the opening cut “Good Luck,” where by song’s end the musicians are chasing themselves in ecstasy. The title track follows, reminding one of Elvis Costello’s Imperial Bedroom on amphetamines. Costello is often Lerche’s closest touchstone, since both began their careers with energy to burn and endless musical styles to explore. Lerche’s young man’s nervous edge kickstarts the rockers (“Easy to Persuade,” “Almighty Moon,” “Don’t Look Now”) and even catches up with the more reflective numbers (“I Cannot Let You Go,” “Like Lazenby“). His backing band, the Faces Down, join a dizzying array of guests. “Pioneer” really sticks out as a welcome piece of lonely-boy-in-the-studio weirdness.