20 Signs of Life in 2002

The CMJ Music Marathon is aptly named: four nights of racing from venue to venue to subway to venue to late-night sushi to venue, hoping to discover something special among the hundreds of artists performing throughout lower Manhattan. While the 24-member Polyphonic Spree with their horns, harp and choir robes were a joy to behold, it was on the quiet Thursday afternoon at the Museum of Television and Radio in Midtown where I was most impressed. That’s when I heard Sondre Lerche.

The garage rock of his neighboring Swedes (The Hives, the Hellacopters and the Flaming Sideburns) might be getting the press, but the exquisite melodies of this 20-year-old Norwegian are truly sublime. I spoke with him before his live set for KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic with Nic Harcourt, ignorant of the methodically infectious music that was to follow in the small studio theater.

I had just scoured the Internet for anything that might help me interview the young singer-songwriter. Ten minutes yielded the following: His debut album, Faces Down, had already been certified gold in Norway. He quotes Burt Bacharach as a big influence. And he wrote his first song at age 14.

The impact of Bacharach and Costello quickly became apparent as his vocals playfully countered the clever chord progressions on his acoustic guitar. But Lerche has processed the ’60s pop aesthetic through a Beck-influenced lens, and the result is both adventurous and gaudily accessible. And while English is his second language, his command of it surpasses that of most Americans. His roughly-hewn lyrics offer another counterpoint to the melodies.

"It’s a collection of songs that I wrote when I was in school," he said of Faces Down, which was actually recorded at the end of 2000. "Kind of dark lyrics, but positive melodies and harmonies. And I think that’s a nice contrast."

Already he’s shared stages in Norway with labelmate Beth Orton and the undisputed kings of Nordic pop, a-ha. Faces Down hit #3 on Norway’s radio and sales charts. But on just his second day in the U.S., he seems to be handling the exposure well.

"You see a lot of people who are addicts to their own attention, to the fame," he said. "I’ve gotten quite a lot of attention for my music. You just need to keep focused on what you’re doing -- writing songs and performing them -- and appreciate that people are interested in what you’re doing and just leave it at that."

When Faces Down was released in the U.S. last fall, Lerche was already busy working on the follow-up, which he says will be more personal and a bit clearer lyrically.

"[Faces Down] is very well-organized structurally. On the new stuff, I’ve tried to break it up into more parts and have more variation within the song. Still of course the lyrics then have to be what keeps it together, because you have very different faces within the songs."

See the rest of our 20 Signs of Life in 2002.