Poor Sweden. The land of tall, blond and beautiful people, Fjords, Fairytales and, of course, ABBA. Music in Sweden seems to have stalled somewhat on an international level since those halcyon days of ‘Waterloo’, however, and only the odd breakout single by indie-pop oddities like Peter, Bjorn and John or I’m From Barcelona prevent the country from undergoing a deep freeze in rocking exports.
    
Dungen, AKA popular hobbit Elijah Wood’s favourite band, are possibly the greatest hope in convincing the rest of the world that  Sweden can still cut the proverbial smorgasbord when it comes to simple, glorious pop music. Ever since the group’s excellent 2004 album Ta Det Lugnt, Dungen have seemed on the verge of something big and wonderful, as their everything-but-the-kitchen-sink-blend of styles and instrumentation won the hearts and minds of many around the world, landing lucrative support roles with Wolfmother, amongst others.
    
4 continues in the same vein as Ta Det Lugnt, but rather than placing an emphasis upon the sort of British psychedelia espoused by late Beatles and early prog such as Pink Floyd, songwriter and leader Gustav Ejstes draws upon his classical jazz training to deliver an album much more mellow and downbeat than previous efforts. The change in direction works surprisingly well, too, and the end result is an album that sounds very much like a direct heir to the Lounge-Pop crown formerly held by Air, the Gallic lotharios behind the classic Moon Safari album. Like Moon Safari, 4 is an incredibly evocative album, and has a definite sense of place about it- listening to it, you can imagine smoky rooms, or excellent parties, or cities at night. Ejstes’ uncommercial-but-commendable decision to sing entirely in Swedish is also an excellent idea, as it lends a valuable air of location to the music, and Swedish is a beautiful language to complement the beautiful music on offer here.
    
The album starts with the moody and unpronounceable ‘Sätt Att Se’, which combines Chet baker piano rolls with breakbeat drum patterns, a throwback to Ejstes’ teen years as a hip-hop wannabe. Violins simmer in the background, a lightly squalling guitar borrowed from Link Wray or the Velvet Underground floats from the speakers like the smoke from a million cigarillos. Despite this there’s also an air of lawlessness about it, much like if Jim Morrison listened to more Ennio Morricone than read William Blake. Other songs such as ‘Det Tar Tid’ return more to Dungen’s proggier past, sounding much like fellow revivalists The Flaming Lips at their floatiest, as an ancient synthesiser burbles arpeggios over a funk-inflected samba track, whilst someone at the back has a fantastic time hitting literally every drum in the world.
    
Here’s where the best bits of Dungen lie - they have the uncanny and incredibly rare ability to make their myriad of influences stand out from each other without being crowded or treading on each other’s toes. For example, you wouldn’t have thought Black Sabbath-style stoner riffs would work very well with a moog solo and a pleasingly retro vocoder track on ‘Samtidigt 1’, but they do, and it’s testament to Ejstes’ obvious talent as a composer that any other band would make this mish-mash of styles seem about as awkward as getting a sofa up several flights of stairs. Having said that, the reasonably brief length of 4 probably helps this along, as a mere 37 minutes is nowhere near enough time for any album to outstay its welcome.
    
4, then, is highly recommended. Ideal for pretty much any type of occasion, it’s zippy, clever, equally good  for background music or serious analysis. There’s so much on offer that it’d surely be a shame not to. Skål!

Release date: 29/09/08
Website: www.dungen-music.com
Label: Subliminal sounds

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