Let me get one thing straight – these guys are not from Barcelona, they are from Scandinavia. How could something so cheerful come from a cold Scandinavia? Ok, ok, I just remember ABBA.
I am from Barcelona are unique music product. Innate feeling for melody is their loadstar that never leaves them. Truth to be told, some songs are less successful than other, but there is nothing you would skip. Same story with the new album Growing Up Is For Trees.
On their fifth release, I’ve sensed maturity, even though catchy melodies are still their forte. Still, I am glad anytime they decide to play like little kids, which is the case in a track called Benjamin. Next to it is a pearl of the album, bittersweet Departure, pointing out how would americana sound If its origins were in Sweden.
Btw, I believe they wanted to persuade you to listen to their album in entirety after the open track Violins . It is one of the biggest hits they have had since their first album. Everything coming after Violins is a stream of characteristic indie sound that Swedish people have promoted for the last 15 years. Harmonies are impeccable. Lyrically, everything seems too simple. Growing Up Is For Trees is their most complex and most mature album ever but charming and cheerful at the same time. The middle of it was so-so but I liked it as a whole. It is definitely not the album of the year.
I believe there are not a lot of music groups functioning in the way they do. It is a group of friends who just wanna have fun, sing and play instruments. You can eat that togetherness with a spoon. Kudos to maestro Emanuel Lundgren who kept them assembled for ten years. As I always say to my friends when I give them relationship advices: Stay with those who help you grow you branches and not with those who help you grow your roots. I am from Barcelona know that.
