Living Thing

Peter Bjorn and John are the Swedish trio that released a certain single called 'Young Folks' in 2006, the one with the inimitable whistling intro and shuffling drums and the huge chorus which was so clever and tongue in cheek but at the same time so simple, personal and direct and universal that it won over listeners across the world, got covered by the varied likes of Nena and Kanye West, and even showed up on the zeitgeist-defining Gossip Girl. The accompanying album, Writer's Block, was a heart melting collection of 11 perfectly formed pop classics which went on to become an indie hit. What you may not have heard is their more experimental side. As befitting a band comprising a 'hardcore fusion' obsessive (John) and jazz-pianist (Bjorn) in their ranks, there has always been a wilder, more playful undertow bubbling away just beneath the shiny pop surface. Just look at Seaside Rock, their limited edition, low-key 2008 release which was pretty much the polar opposite of Writer's Block: mostly instrumental, and filled with beautiful, sparse elegies to their isolated childhoods. Which brings us neatly to Living Thing, their follow up to Writer's Block proper. There was always going to be chatter as to how Peter Bjorn and John would follow up a pop phenomenon. Would they try to replicate their earlier success? Or go out of their way to release a wilfully difficult new album? In actual fact, what they have done is a bit of both - and neither--all at the same time. Bolstered by the band's production, the first taster of the album, 'Lay it Down', which snuck out onto the blogosphere at the end of 2008, was a delightfully off-kilter riposte, a jaunty flying-V in the faces of people who thought they'd had the band all figured out, with a harsh, treated vocal lifelessly intoning the threatening refrain before abruptly giving way to an anthemic, full-bodied singalong, the sort which will send the masses scurrying to any self-respecting dancefloor on a Saturday night. The rest of the album walks a similar tightrope of melody and mayhem. Living Thing pulses with life, it is bursting at the seams with energy and vitality, and shot through with warmth and excitement and wonder