Swede pop trio Peter Bjorn and John is currently streaming their forthcoming release, Living Things, on MySpace. I'm only two songs deep and I'm already digging on it, though it's not really at all what I expected nor does it remind me of 2006's blissfully sublime Writer's Block or 2008's quirky Seaside Rock. It's got more of a dark, minimal, dance music feel. The first track, "The Feeling," has few lyrics, its vocals set against clap-clomp beats and out-there samples that create their own additional textures and percussive flourishes, while track two, "It Don't Move Me," continues with the clapping, but pairs it with heavy, low keyboard strokes and '80s style skating rink rhythms. To listen to the new album, click here.
This article appears in Mar 18-24, 2009.