After his full-time gig,
the Cardigans, went on extended hiatus following 1998's Gran Turismo, bass player
Magnus Sveningsson decided to exercise his long-dormant songwriting skills. The resultant set of compositions gradually became the basis for his first solo project,
Righteous Boy, and its debut album,
I Sing Because of You, a marvelous, moody bit of orchestral chamber pop that runs both eerily dark and sublimely light. One of the main reasons the music is such a treat is because
Sveningsson assembled a tremendously sympathetic and versatile band for the occasion that included such friends as
Henrik Andersson (
Ray Wonder),
Patrik Bartosch (
Eggstone),
Jens Jansson (
Brainpool), and
Nathan Larson (
Shudder to Think). They effortlessly move between sinuous blues (the first stateside single, "Loved Among Friends"); Scandinavian dub for the downtrodden at heart ("No More Love," "Lone Among Friends"); shadowy, cinematic rock ("Elephant Man," "I Feel Apart") that cuts through thick electronic and psychedelic atmospheres; perfect downbeat ballads (the lovely haze "View from a Satellite" and slow-motion melancholia of "All My Evils"); the odd, chipper pop singalong ("Righteous Boy/Righteous Girl"); and stunning symphonic soul ("I Made It Hard for You to Love Me"), the ether of the songs consistently filled up with every type of tripped-out gurgle and curlicue: synth loops, Wurlitzers, trumpets, and melodramatic girl group backing vocals that can set your spine on end.
Sveningsson's gentle burr of a singing voice is the ideal nucleus around which to build the music, sounding throughout the album as if it were perched prostrate on a cloud, whispering secrets down into your ear as you sleep. But
I Sing Because of You is as successful as it is because it has extraordinary songs to spare. The album and
Righteous Boy really do sing. ~ Stanton Swihart