Cheerfulness and bliss are different. The kind of paradise that Emma Elisabeth, the Swedish Berliner, wallows in on her album SOME KIND OF PARADISE seems more like the kind of “Dark Paradise” sung about by professional sufferer Lana Del Rey. That should already be clear with Emma Elisabeth in the opening song that gives the album its title. Then, in the second song “Tray Full Of Ash”, Emma Elisabeth cranks up the tempo, quite unlike Del Rey in recent years, and swings into Taylor Swift territory of upscale Americana catchy pop.
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Emma Elisabeth sings about lovers and vampires. Greetings from Jim Jarmusch’s “Only Lovers Left Alive”. In “Love You Less” Emma Elisabeth unpacks her Shania Twain-esque “That Don’t Impress Me Much” attitude. This record feels like hitchhiking down a highway near a cliff at night with a stranger (and possibly a cranky lunatic) at the wheel while she tells you chilling, delightfully entertaining stories from her past.
Morgue fun fact from this past: As befits a Swede (ABBA and such), Emma Elisabeth (under a different name) once competed in the Eurovision Song Contest, but psssst! In any case, Emma Elisabeth, whose serious voice you always believe in the mood she claims, brought us a saloon piano (besides the obligatory whiskey minibar) for this record in the van (besides the obligatory whiskey minibar), massive slide guitars, subtle sparkling 80s synths and a warning choir packed. Oh, it’s all really round like the wheels on which we rock’n’roll through the noir night.
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