The Perishers

Item: Let There Be Morning
Author: Peter Veness

Let There Be Morning

(2003)

Reviewed by Peter Veness

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Label Nettwerk RecordsDecapolisAugust 2005

dream pop indie pop

Scandinavians sometimes play their songs too slow, whether it's the doom of their metal or the melancholy of their pop, the sounds can take too long to burn; not so with The Perishers.

From the work-a-day opener Weekends to the wrenching ache of the title track The Swedish four piece offer delicate and mostly detailed sketches built with gentle strumming, rationed strings and brass and slow, repeating rhythms. There are occasional misfires but they're hard to focus on when surrounded by intelligent yet subtle pop mining the same vein as countrymen The Cardigans but in a slower, lower fidelity fashion.

That reference comes through most when female vocals appear. Vocalist Ola Kluft duets with his former music teacher Sara Isaksson on the gloomy and affecting Pills, lilting and floating, the song is part break-up ballad and part severe anti-drugs message all wrapped by a majestic duet.

Let There Be Morning will sleep on your ears and slowly creep almost backwards into your conscience - it is a wonderfully delicate pop record delivered with sincerity and a fierce, compassionate humanity.

3.5/4