When it comes to matters of the heart, it seems that women do so much better than men in putting such things to song. So, it comes as no surprise to me that Sweden’s Sofia Talvik manages to hit the mark squarely with her new EP “L - Part One of L.O.V.E”.
Always an intelligent lyricist – remarkably so considering English isn’t her native language – and an endearing singer, Ms Talvik sings not only of the sunny glow of love but also of the shadows that cannot be avoided due to the bright illumination of emotion. I am probably reading too much into these songs – though surely that is the point of quality song writing – but you do get to thinking that she has suffered far too many dents in her journeys through the arena of love. Yet, she can look under even the mundane and find all sorts of joy and sadness (with “Bittersweet Bliss” being the case in point) and even when a loser in love and life, which I see this as a continuation of the themes developed in her “Florida” album, Ms Talvik evokes much in the way of sympathy through the simple device of repeating “…waste your time on me instead” (from the song “Ghosts”). Sometimes it is the little things that make songs great.
Anyway, this EP got me to thinking about an old Buck Owens’ song that contained the line “… There's no fool like an old fool that's loved and lost at least a hundred times”. Ms Talvik, despite her tender years, sounds like she has loved and lost many times but it is to her credit and our musical enjoyment that she can keep writing about it.
As this EP is part of a series of four, there will be more to come from Ms Talvik. The EP is available for download from her website.