Monday 25 October 2010

More than just a pretty face..


One of the quirkiest things to come out of Sweden in the last year or so, Johan Hillblom is everything you need on a dreary autumnal evening. One listen to demo Sneak Preview proves that Hibblom has all the ingredients to be the next Jamie Cullum (only without all the Marks and Spencers pretension). If your idea of fun involves plinky plonky piano, syncopation and trumpets galore, then look no further than Sneak Preview for 4 minutes of loveliness.

Both on this track and the more soft and wistful Left Me to Wake (which can be found here if you're interested), Johan's voice holds a certain amount of pure, raw emotion that just screams musical theatre. Whilst with some voices of that calibre it can come off as whiny or overly camp, Hillblom passes it off as something genuinely quite interesting.

With lyrics both charming and witty, covering even the most important of issues, such as the struggle of what to do when faced with Facebook Poke rejection (yes we've all been there), it's clear the Swede's got a gift for both articulate songsmanship and truly captivating melodies. It's rather fitting that this teaser of a demo is called Sneak Preview: after hearing just a couple of songs it's left me wanting more, something countless new artists have tried (and often failed) to inspire in their music.

More of the same please.

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