Lust For Youth - International

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  • Lust For Youth go for the synth pop jugular on their third album, International. Back when it was Hannes Norrvide's solo project, LFY released a series of noisey, Casio-driven post-punk, with vocals that sounded like a Cro Magnon rebirth of Ian Curtis. Since then, Norrvide's loosened his grip, inviting Loke Rahbek (of Vår) and Malthe Fischer to join. Now, having brought outré house and techno influences into the mix (namely on 2013's Perfect View), LFY sets its sights on the studio-sheen of Pet Shop Boys and Duran Duran. Does International hit its mark? That depends on whether Norrvide's voice, unintelligible for most of LFY's existence, can achieve the stadium-ready heft of his influences. For the most part, he succeeds. Not unlike Bernard Sumner of New Order, Norrvide imbues the jangly "Illume" with a sense of romantic longing. Convincing hooks abound on International, but at times the lyrical content feels like a madlib of synth pop clichés. The chorus of "New Boys" ends with: "Feels like you're falling, but it passes in time, into a better day, our hearts, our heads." In other words, lyrics that sound OK but lack any context to give them meaning. The album's second half finds the group in a more comfortable groove. Starting with "Armidan," the songs become more straightforward, discarding the ornate fussiness of earlier tracks. "After Touch," one of the album's highlights, pairs a lurching waltz with 4AD-style guitar arpeggios and emotional, threadbare vocals. On "Running," a clever studio effect sends Norvidde's vocals rocketing out of bells and synths, like a lethargic version of Karl Hyde (its opening verse approaches the bliss of Underworld's "Born Slippy"). The album dwells on verbs that imply motion, such as "falling" and "running." The final (title) track continues this theme, treating travel and movement as two sides of the same coin. Sampling a babel of foreign voices, "International" evokes the disorienting feeling of waking up in a different airport terminal, day after day. The travel theme is not limited to physical distance. Taken further, the record could be about Norrvide's journey from angsty bedroom producer to road-weary synth pop frontman. That this transition has taken less than four years is impressive. Imperfect as it is, International is proof that the group's future is limited only by the force of its wanderlust.
  • Tracklist
      01. Epoetin Alfa 02. Illume 03. Ultras 04. New Boys 05. Lungomare 06. Armida 07. After Touch 08. Basorexia 09. Running 10. International
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