Ljungblut
Villa Carlotta 5959

Today we are taking on the album Villa Carlotta 5959 by the band Ljungblut, the third album they do with vocals in Norwegian. Ljungblut began as a solo project for bassist and songwriter Kim Ljung in 2005, the vocals were in English back then. It evolved into a quintet later and the language was, as alluded to, changed to Norwegian. This new album has songs with historical references, like in the opening track Hasselblad where we get the story about the cameras on the moon. So if you are in the marked for a Hasselblad camera, there are a few of them on the moon. Then there are tracks referring to Ljung’s chronic migraine, I guess that’s a good thing to write about.

Alternative rock is the genre according to the press sheet and that is probably a decent way to categorise it. Those who know the Swedish band Kent has a good reference there as I think they sound quite alike with melancholic pop-rock music with a feeling of being alive. The sound is rather good as well, not migraine inducing. The album is fairly varied as well with a wide range of tempos and dynamics. Quite an organic sound with vintage synths and stuff, Kim’s voice is pretty good as well. It is a little bit unfortunate that it sometimes drowns a bit and it is hard to hear what he is singing.

There are many positives about this album, I like the sound, the songs are pretty good and they keep it short as well. Pretty low-key artwork I think, that is also a pretty fitting thing for this album. My conclusion is that this is a good album; Hasselblad is probably the best track even though none of the tracks really stand out, but there are no weak tracks either and that is always positive. But while the album is positive, it is not that memorable and I doubt I will remember it now that I have written about it. Those more into the poppish rock music, and likes Kent will probably find this much more appealing than I do.

A relatively fresh album I think, I think it is good and it could be worth checking out. And I think that there is a pretty good chance that those who check out the album will find it appealing, I am sure that it won’t be disappointing. Therefore we can conclude that Ljugblut has put together a good and likeable album.

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