Swedish Synth Sorcerer Johan Agebjörn is revered by the more discerning pop fan for good reason. Just check out any of the three Sally Shapiro albums for exquisitely elegant electropop or his remarkable remixes for the likes of Glass Candy and Lindström handily compiled on 2013’s utterly essential Sweetened. The mostly beat-free Notes, though, drifts away from the glitzy, sci-fi Italo for which he’s fêted almost to the extent it could’ve been subtitled Another Side of Johan Agebjörn.
It’s a record of two halves. The first flutters wistfully in the wind like the soundtrack to some lovingly-crafted, if slightly surreal, children’s animation from 1970s Europe. Youthful voices recite poetry and songs like “The Right to Play” spin the giddy, carefree feelings of summer afternoons spent flying kites and racing through wild wheat fields. “The Leftovers”‘ bass marches with the aplomb of the bucket wielding mops from Fantasia whilst the wonderfully-titled waltz “The Boy Who Thought It Was a Good Idea to Cry” sighs and floats with all the graceful reflection of Bach’s “Air on the G String”.
The second, more satisfying half, finds Agebjörn on slightly more familiar terrain. The “woman scorned” brooding of “You Passed Through” convincingly evokes “divorce days” Abba with haunting vocals from Young Galaxy’s Catherine McCandless whilst the astral ascent of “It Was Never a Challenge to Love You” could be Nite Jewel playing the theme from Taxi on the moon. The strongest tracks come, unsurprisingly, via Sally Shapiro’s guest spots. In particular, the crystalline re-enactment of Electric Youth’s pining “The Best Thing” and the chilled glide of “Careful” which shimmers like Dusty and PSB’s “Nothing Has Been Proved” propelled into Wong Kar-Wai’s 2046. Futurist fantasies with neon flare, ocean rain and bullet trains. If the admirably free-spirited Notes doesn’t quite capture the fully-charged “Agebjörn Alchemy”, it certainly won’t harm his standing within pop’s Magic Circle.