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Album Details

• Artist: Shout Out Louds
• Album: Our Ill Wills
• Label: Merge / Bud Fox
• Year of Release: 2007
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: dscanland on 2007-10-17

Shout Out Louds is a brilliant pop band coming to our shores from Sweden. Ill Wills is the sophomore album but don't start looking for a slump here. This group has created another beautiful pop album and while there may be a few flaws, it has all the pop elements a fan could ask for.

The album opens up with a fun song called "Tonight I Have To Leave It", acoustic guitar, cool percussion and string section and you don't even have vocals yet. Then Shout Out Louds tone it down slightly and give us a Belle & Sebastian type track with "Parents Livingroom". One of the many highlights comes with "You Are Dreaming". I should mention that Bjorn Yttling from the beloved Peter Björn & John group handles the wonderfully rich production on Our Ill Wills. A change of pace happens with "Suit Yourself", a bit of a quieter track but equally rich in production. "Blue Headlights" is the first track that Bebban Stenborg takes vocal duties over from Adam Olenius. I'd like to see her do a solo album.

My favorite on Our Ill Wills is easily "Normandie". It's a very upbeat pop song that keeps you bouncing and feeling good, definite single potential here. Note: "Meat Is Murder" is not a cover, instead a lovely acoustic tribute.

There are some great combinations of some of today's and yesterday's pop masterminds like Sufjan Stevens, The Cure, Magnetic Fields, Bright Eyes and so many others. The fact is that Shout Out Louds incorporate so many of these influences that they end up sounding a little like each but mostly, sounding fresh and new. The pop sounds of Shout Out Louds may not be for everyone but for many Our Ill Wills will be the pop album of the year.

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