Lykke Li

Youth Novels

From Stockholm, this debut album by the worryingly-precocious 22-year-old is a minimalist treat. Unlike countrywoman Robyn, she shrugs off all pop leanings to create something that works more as a series of mood pieces than a radio-friendly run of singles. Her deadpan delivery (half-spoken, half-sung) is in the grand Scandinavian tradition and it tilts its head more to Iceland (and the glockenspiel-dappled side of Sigur Rós) than Sweden. The instrumentation is like the ‘Concretes go experimental folk-jazz’, but there are more than enough melodies (see ‘Dance, Dance, Dance’ and ‘I’m Good, I’m Gone’) to prevent it from melting into self-indulgence.