Time for album number four from Sofia Talvik and, remarkably, she shows no sign of running out of steam. Ostensibly another sensitive singer songwriter from Sweden, she more often than not turns your expectations around and just about manages that trick again with the release of “Florida”.
Easily her least “European” album – as it should be given that it was written whilst living in the USA – “Florida” reminded me of Laurel Canyon period Jackie DeShannon with its superficial sweetness and quality song writing disguising the fact that a sharp eye has been cast upon a the empty vessels of a plastic society. “You Plate Your Heart With Gold” stands as evidence of that. Not much gets by Ms Talvik with even the disillusionment that goes with a collapsing relationship (“More Than I Should Have”) being tackled in a matter of fact way and as for the exquisitely sentimental “Maybe Then Will Be When”…what can I say? The song deserves some sort of award. If there isn’t a suitable one then one should be created forthwith.
The more I listen to this album, the more I like it. All great music has meaning that only close inspection will expose. Looking at it from the outside, it appears that Sofia Talvik has recognised that the American dream was actually the result of too much cheese before bedtime and that her intelligence and sentimentality isn’t what today’s mainstream music business is looking for. Well, that’s their loss.
“Florida” is available online from her website or CD Baby.