The creative streak that Sondre Lerche has been on is worthy of study, especially since 2014, the year he released his post-divorce album ‘Please’. Since then, with varying degrees of success, his records have rarely fallen below the notable mark, particularly ‘Avatars of Love’ from 2022, which represented a new creative apex for the Norwegian we have known for 25 years. ‘Acrobats’, his new work, does not match that peak, but it maintains quality, offering again a fresh twist.
This time, perhaps inspired by the favorable reception of the progressive and spectacular ‘Avatars of Love’, Lerche has crafted an album of long songs, most of them between six and nine minutes in length, reveling in the progress and development of the songs rather than finishing them off quickly and easily. He does not always achieve the expected results, but credit must be given for taking the risk.
Recorded in as many as nine different studios, ‘Acrobats’ preserves Lerche’s penchant for classic pop with pompous arrangements and sweet, romantic lyrics. He says that, if there is a central theme on the record, it is having found love in politically unsettled times, and indeed the closing track ‘Life-Changing Love’ asks what would happen if those ‘lunatics’ who run the world found true love. There is even a certain guilt in finding love: “The threat of violence hangs in the air, but I just heard the birds of spring,” the artist sings.
There should be no guilt or shame in love, and that is why ‘Little Kids’ sounds so joyful, recalling a teenage romance enveloped by the beautiful arrangements of the Stockholm Studio Orchestra. The melody and arrangements capture the melancholy of the lyric that speaks of ‘babies’ who are about to turn 45, while the song evolves with utmost elegance.
In Sondre Lerche’s melodic ocean there is room not only for strings but also for guitars, marimbas, clarinets and many other instruments, an instrumental abundance that also opens the door to new stylistic explorations, some more convincing than others. ‘Drive Me Away from You’ is a spectacular Beatle-esque odyssey, with a finale reminiscent of ‘Hey Jude’. By contrast, the disco excursion of ‘Follow the River’ does not justify its lengthy duration, though it gains from the specificity of its lyrics, with references to bourbon and a sunburn and a drunken episode “out of nowhere”.
Although ‘Little Kids’, one of the romantic songs on ‘Acrobats’, is the best and most complete, the title track also moves with the analogy between lovers and acrobats who dance and risk their lives in the air. Less immediate but also dazzling at the end, ‘Love is All’ prefigures the reflections of ‘Life-Changing Love’ in the most contemplative piece of the set; the small instrumental details and shifts in composition energize the song, while Sondre sings about how love serves as an antidote to a world that is ugly and that “threatens to go very wrong”.
There is something especially beautiful in the way Lerche builds these songs, starting with the cinematic ‘How Much of This Was Planned’, with arrangements of enormous taste and elegance and a clear will to lead them into broader territories. It is noticeable that Sondre comes from acting in ‘Moulin Rouge’ and the drama of the compositions reflects that, although some tracks promise more than they ultimately deliver.
For many composers and artists in general, it seems almost impossible not to imprint their work with their impressions of the social and political drift of the world, and precisely the concept of ‘Acrobats’ may relate to the obligation to perform acrobatics to be happy in a world that makes it very difficult. Sondre chooses to revel in love, and the references to the threatening world outside cast a small shadow over an album that should not apologize for being escapist. Escapism is exactly what we need.
