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If this is the style Lerche decides to stick with for a while, that will be cause for a round of hearty cheers from fans of smart, sophisticated guitar pop everywhere. If you are a fan of said music and you don't know Sondre Lerche, this is the place to start the discovery process.
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Heartbeat Radio is Lerche's most eclectic outing yet, with no overarching concept beyond a consistent level of excellence.
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Norwegian songsmith Sondre Lerche has done it again: assembled another batch of perfect pop tunes that manage to be upbeat while wistful, optimistic while nostalgic.
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With Heartbeat Radio, Lerche aligns all his identities: Gentlemanly melodies glide across elegant guitars and High Llama Sean O’Hagan’s swelling string arrangements.
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Heartbreak Radio sounds too breezy to make a lasting impression, but Lerche has done worse--a lot worse.
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Even if a lot of Heartbeat Radio is affable and politely poppy, a lot of it is so pointedly bland that you can't help but wonder if the good stuff stands out only because of the beige filler around it.
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Current fans may appreciate these saccharine sounds, but others will find them a little much. Still, the highlights make this album worth recommending to those with a penchant for breakup music.
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Sometimes willfully precious, sometimes more solid, Heartbeat Radio is largely at the mercy of its orchestration, which further hurts the weak moments while improving the good ones.
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Under The RadarSteady but not stupendous. [Fall 2009, p.64]
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MojoIt's only the too-glib wordplay that thwarts a more whole hearted endorsement. [Nov 2009, p.94]
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Prodigiously talented but frustratingly inconsistent, Lerche gives Heartbeat Radio an unsteady pulse.
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While there are enough wonderful arrangements and flashes of brilliance to point the way towards a potential masterwork in the still-young Lerche’s future, Heartbeat Radio isn’t much more than supremely well-constructed background music. The album is smothered by care and clockwork.
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Q MagazineImagine a less florid Rufus Wainwright , or Paddy McAloon without the lyrical smarts and you'd be getting close: he even claims Prefab Sprout - along with A-ha - as a key influence. [Dec 2009, p. 116]