Ingenting Att Förlora

Albumrecension

Linda Bengtzing's debut album came over a year after the release of "Alla Flickor," the irresistible pop hit that unexpectedly took her into the finals of the Swedish Melodifestivalen. She finished last, but the single was a huge hit anyway. Unfortunately, the follow-up single, "Diamanter," failed to make the same impression, and it took another stab at Melodifestivalen to give the 32-year-old singer the opportunity for an album release. It was worth the wait: "Jag Ljuger Så Bra" was another huge hit, at Melodifestivalen and on the charts. One of the most intelligent, infectious pop hits of 2006, "Jag Ljuger Så Bra" finds Bengtzing listing all the reasons why she is so much happier without a recently departed boyfriend, before ending each chorus with a knockout refrain that translates roughly as "I'm a really good liar." The Swedes have always been masters of lyrical melancholia married to catchy melodies; think the Cardigans' deceptively lightweight "Lovefool" and ABBA's "The Winner Takes It All," and Bengtzing's hit is a classic example of this technique. If Swedish-language music were accepted outside the Nordic countries, there is no reason to doubt Bengtzing could have had a massive worldwide hit on her hands. If nothing else on her debut album can quite match the towering heights of that instant classic, then the time this album took in the making still pays off — it's a tight, consistent effort. From the Iron Maiden dress she sports on the cover, it seems that Bengtzing is something of a rock chick at heart, and although the prominent electric guitar on tracks like the title song and "Vad Hande Sen?" are more Roxette than Metallica, they still rock a little harder than the likes of Lena Philipsson and Sanna Nielsen. With the exception of "Alla Flickor," which is complete fluff and all the more enjoyable for it, the album is more self-consciously mature than many Swedish pop releases. Bengtzing has a slightly raw, throaty quality to her voice, which works excellently on introspective ballads such as "Ett Ögonblick" and "Medan Du Sov." There are a couple of slightly forgettable ballads toward the end, but overall this is an extremely promising debut for Bengtzing, and marks her as a talent worth watching.