Swedish songwriter matures fast on second album.
There is a slightly tenuous Americana link when it comes to Swedish performers in the shape of The Hootenanny Singers, featuring later-to-become ABBA songwriting powerhouse Bjorn Ulvaeus, who were part of the folk boom which gripped the world throughout the 1960’s and especially so in their native land. That era morphed into many musical successes and ABBA were one its biggest phenomena, also putting Swedish music to the front and centre of people’s minds and spawning international acts such as The Hives, The Hellacopters, The Cardigans and First Aid Kit. On the evidence of this record, Sweden is set to have a new international star.
Julia Logan’s second album “Faraway Nearby” is a luxurious mix of styles and a cornucopia of influences; indeed there are times here when you could well be in Laurel Canyon in the 1970’s. Hardly a surprise when you think her mum is Californian and she spent much time there herself, being taught guitar by a hippie family friend. With the album, Logan and co-writer and producer, Daniel Bengtson (First Aid Kit and James Yorkston, among others) have crafted ten songs which not only identify her sonically but provide space for her vocal individuality too.
The opener ‘Top of the World’ hangs on a singular piano melody and morphs into a lilting, uplifting number redolent of Bonny Light Horseman or Midlake. The single, ‘Mirrors,’ is also keyboard-driven and highlights her vocal range. Joni Mitchell’s DNA is all over the beautiful ‘Cul de sac Summer,’ but while there are obvious influences across all ten tracks, Logan has imposed herself on each one with a freshness and individuality that mark her as an artist with considerable heft.
While ‘Faraway Nearby’ will be seen as a landmark work in its own right, it also suggests there’s a lot more to come.
