Somehow I always expect Lykke Li's songs - and albums (Youth Novels, Wounded Rhymes) - to be more immediate than they actually are. It's probably the way they sound, all pop and everything - when in fact, pretty often the choruses aren't actually as hooky as you expect they're going to be, so it takes a few listens (for me, at least) to realise that despite that seeming deficit, there are a lot of pleasures to be had here.
Her latest, I Never Learn, is no exception. It starts promisingly, with the deep strumming that leads into the opening, title cut and as a whole feels nicely balanced and just the right length at nine tracks altogether. Highlights are the climbing "Just Like A Dream" (in the marquee 'track 3' position), the right-in-her-sweet-spot "Gunshot", "Love Me Like I'm Not Made Of Stone"'s stripped-back plea (even the title's a little bit heartbreaking) and "Never Gonna Love Again", which, rapturous-sounding but, again, lovelorn, is basically her take on a hands-in-the-air anthem.
Her latest, I Never Learn, is no exception. It starts promisingly, with the deep strumming that leads into the opening, title cut and as a whole feels nicely balanced and just the right length at nine tracks altogether. Highlights are the climbing "Just Like A Dream" (in the marquee 'track 3' position), the right-in-her-sweet-spot "Gunshot", "Love Me Like I'm Not Made Of Stone"'s stripped-back plea (even the title's a little bit heartbreaking) and "Never Gonna Love Again", which, rapturous-sounding but, again, lovelorn, is basically her take on a hands-in-the-air anthem.
