The Long Cut

European is an appropriate adjective to apply to Sweden’s Sambassadeur. Besides the obvious literal truth of the statement, they’ve taken up a position in the upper echelons of the sun-kissed Scandipop bands of which they are such a fine example – impressive for a band who named themselves after a Frenchman’s song¹. Rather, though, than take their lyrical inspiration from the risqué Gainsbourg, they stick to the safer ground of Jeepster-inspired tales of relationships not quite working and near misses. When they sing “But I believe in love, I guess, and you believe in loneliness” in “In The Calm”, you could believe you were listening to some tweeer than fuck Glaswegian band for whom Belle & Sebastian’s earlier EPs are a little too cheerful.

They’ve progressed a long way since their eponymous full début. On Migration, they went for a fuller, more orchestral sound, which brought them legions of new fans and comparisons to different Glasgow bands². The sound and atmosphere became more accessible, the mood lightened, and the band played with a confidence befitting a far more successful band destined to appear on mixtapes made for pretty girls by undergraduate arts students.

European is just as unlikely is its predecessor to produce any dancefloor fillers, but retains a similar mood and style. The lush instrumentation and sad, female-dominated vocals remain, with Anna Persson’s voice having matured slightly. Opener “Stranded” has a slow piano-led opening before it turns into a heavily orchestrated indie pop song which reminds me of nothing so much as The Essex Green, before fading out into a slightly overlong piano outro. The standout song on the album is, as on Migration (with Subtle Changes), the second song, “Days”. Also reminiscent of The Essex Green’s more pastoral moments, it’s three minutes of glorious horns, cascading guitars and an incredibly catchy middle eight, almost making it seem like summer in spite of the freezing temperatures outside.

The album does dip a little in energy towards the middle, and they struggle to maintain the inventiveness of the early tracks with the indie-by-numbers “Forward Is All” and “High And Low”. It’s always enjoyable, but the songs are nowhere near as arresting as we know they’re capable of. However, things pick up pretty soon. They save the absolute highlight of the album until the very last song, a cover of former Guided By Voices member Tobin Sprout’s “Small Parade”, which was one of my favourite songs from the “What’s Up Matador” compilation lent to my by a classmate about 10 years ago³. It’s a short, quiet and not entirely fitting ending, but the choice of cover is superb, and it’s a beautiful version – less sad than the original, but in no way worse for it.

While Sambassadeur will inevitably be compared to their Swedish twee-pop peers such as Pelle Carlberg, Jens Lekman, Club 8 and Suburban Kids With Biblical Names, their relative prominence in that scene means that they have the luxury of appearing as influential, when their work is actually no more original or groundbreaking than any other band’s. While it may seem they have stagnated musically since Migration, it’s a comfortable sort of stagnation, and at a short 33 minutes, they are never in danger of overstaying their welcome. There are enough blinders on this disc to excuse a couple of slightly boring songs, and their choice of cover to end the album still astonishes me after repeated listens. If you liked Migration, I expect you’ll like this, but to call it a progression would be too generous – it feels more like a sequel. Still, if they’re OK with that, and you’re OK with that, then I am too.

MP3s:
Days
Small Parade (Tobin Sprout cover)

¹ They were named after Serge Gainsbourg’s “Les Sambassadeurs”
² This time, I’m thinking of Camera Obscura
³ Some brief internet research suggests this is the only place it ever got released – an absolute injustice.