A long night’s eventual end couldn’t be better captured with the pairing of the slight Jack Johnson-like “Josephine” and the Beatles-like “The New Boy” to create one connecting summation of a great time. With lyrics like “gets the very best of a man / and pays him with a laugh / don’t you see she is not a mystery,” “Josephine” sounds like a man singing himself a lullaby to get over being dumped. In “The New Boy,” Dixgard becomes a man starting a new day with revelatory praise of himself (“now here is the new boy taking on the world tonight”).
One of the big differences for Mando this time around is the help of former Soundtrack of Our Lives bandmate Bjorn Olsson in producing this album. “This time we’ve been listening more to the general feeling and how we play together, instead of worrying too much about details,” said bassist CJ Fogelklou of Olsson’s contributions and influences on Ode. It’s fitting that the final track is called “Ochrasy,” bringing the album full circle as Dixgard sings solo accompanied with only a guitar to give the song a reflective pace and mood. He even whistles toward the song’s end, giving it a slow, hometown feel. The night is over, but only until the next night starts
Article comments
1 - satsuki
Glad you liked the album, but The New Boy is by Gustaf Norén, not Björn. But it may not be easy to know who plays / writes what in each band when you must listen to loads of records in a short time, so... I enjoyed the review, thanks.
2 - Paul
Razorlight are from London.
3 - scottm_usadj
Mando Diao is a great band--they do keep changing up their style. They already have another coming out overseas and can hear it on their myspace page. Another stylistic shift, this time over to acoustic and folk--but there are some fantastic songs on their as well (notably 'Gold'). Probably the most pompous band since Oasis--but these guys actually live up to it.