New Exclusive Olympic Heights

Whispering trees, lazy crawling trains, and soft boiled rain drops are just some of the colorful and abstract elements that dance behind my eyelids when I listen to an album by Henrik Jonsson. The Swedish producer from Gothenburg collects lo-fi beats and left-field experimental sounds that swish among flanged hits and phase through filtered sweeps. Jonsson effortlessly blends modern classical into folktronica into ambient into a style categorized only as his own. The dreamlike soundscapes sprinkled with background subliminal heartbeats and soul-sinking dysphoric melodies transform me into a child who is eavesdropping on a live improvised folk concert in a beautiful country through a digital seashell with dangling electrodes. Can you picture a shop on the edge of a forest that sells the products comprising of this artist's name? SPLAT! "..my lovely wife, Becky... She's back there multitasking as usual..."

It's difficult not to throw too many superlatives at this recording--most especially since/because it's such a low-key (and lo-fi: tape hiss is a veritable instrument in most of the songs) and moody work. It is, though, first and foremost, an honest-to-goodness album that pays special attention to a logical narrative progression and sustains interest even as it rewards your attention. Concise, gorgeous, atmospheric, melodic sonic storytelling--true headphone music.