Sondre Lerche: Heartbeat Radio

    OK, Sondre Lerche deserves a huge tip in the jar. Like Sufjan Stevens, he is a multi talented, super original songwriter that definitely improves the sometimes sorry state of the pop/rock world. What I mean is, there is no one quite like Sondre Lerche, nor could anyone create what he does with as much prowess. The combination of Sondre's plain acoustic guitar to the full on rock, excellent vocals and instrumental additions is truly unique. The resulting genre, I think, could fit into the niche of anyone that likes the crooning Frank Sinatra style songwriting, the delicate but jazzy/folksy Norah Jones or the funky sweet Steely Dan.
    Sondre Lerche may be best known for the complete soundtrack music for the 2007 film Dan in Real Life. But, he has a number of quality albums and EPs out extending back to 2001: Faces Down (2001), Two Way Monologue (2004), Duper Sessions (2006), Phantom Punch (2007), and more recently while on tour he had available an exclusive record Polaroid Pool Party (2008) for the west coast tour and Polaroid Pumpkin Party (2008) for his east coast tour. Sondre was discovered at a young age in Bergen, Norway, while playing underage at a bar his sister worked at. A producer at that time introduced him to more styles of music, in addition to the Brazillian (i.e. Bassa Nova) he was learning at the time in his guitar lessons, 80's pop and groups he listened to as a child: A-ha, the Beach Boys and Prefab Sprout.
    The track listing for Heartbeat Radio (2009) is: (1) Good Luck (2) Heartbeat Radio (3) I Cannot Let You Go (4) Like Lazenby (5) If Only (6) Pioneer (7) Easy to Persuade (8) Words & Music (9) I Guess It's Gonna Rain Today (10) Almighty Moon (11) Don't Look Now (12) Goodnight
I've uploaded "Words & Music", which is most like the style Sondre has produced throughout his album career; with the rhythmic driving, the lo-fi piano and quality chord progressions. The rest of the album, I'd say is much more 80's pop and reminds me of Steely Dan a lot sometimes. But, go find out for yourself!