Another readily accessible yet slightly inscrutable collection from this accomplished Norwegian songwriter. Although the core of his fourth solo outing is tasteful, tuneful, upbeat singer/songwriter pop/rock,
Morten Abel proves too idiosyncratic to adhere strictly to such a familiar template -- he strays frequently and sometimes quite liberally, to intriguing and generally successful results. Along with plenty of full-bodied guitar work and some particularly lovely female harmony vocals, there are touches of instrumental color that help to liven things up -- banjo on the wrongful-imprisonment protest "Mr. Innocent"; whistling and slide guitar on the rootsy "Gravedigging"; some horns and subtle synthesizers on "House on Fire." There are stylistic flirtations like "Surfer Girl"'s
Primal Scream-esque psychedelia and "Elephant Man"'s erratic, reggae-tinged funk-rock. And then there are the real curve-balls, abrupt diversions into hip-hop (the jokey indolence anthem "Inparticular," with a striking hook sung by
Sissy Wish), a bizarre electro/diva-soul pastiche (the two-minute closer "I'll Be Good") and, strangest of all, the sing-song story rap of "The Birmingham Ho," a sort of updated "Lola" featuring a saga about a transvestite, some music hall piano on the bridge, and the cryptic refrain "You don't have to be gay to make a friend feel good, OK." For all its playful genre experimentation -- which may explain the "being everything" part of the title -- and general goofiness, however, there's a stronger undercurrent of sentimentality and earnestness that comes through to make the album much more than a novelty; ultimately the introspection and emotional sincerity most evident on the relatively "normal" songs like "Winterland" and "Trendsetter" stand out as perhaps album's most essential and appealing qualities. ~ K. Ross Hoffman