Edson: Every Day, Every Second

It’s always interesting to hear bands from countries other than the US and UK. Yes, believe it or not, there are other cultures out there embracing the tonalities of rock and pop and doing something with it. That last statement should only be taken half-sarcastically. After all these years of being a music fan, it still surprises me how many folks tend to be wary and/or just completely deaf when it comes to pop music (or other kinds, for that matter) from a foreign land. Just take a look at the history of any foreign bands that have had a hit stateside but didn’t speak our language. Odds are those hits were deemed as nothing more than “novelties” and that was that. Even groups such as Pizzicato Five and Shonen Knife — a couple of the more revered acts across the board — managed to eke out nothing more than a cult status over here. Granted, there have been the once-in-a-lifetime artists, such as Antonio Carlos Jobim and even Selena, that managed to cross the “dreaded language barrier” with their music, but for the most part we Americans like to have our rock and pop served up American English style. Funny, that, considering how my generation was taught that this country was the “Great American Melting Pot” by none other than School House Rock way back when. But then, there is that whole American denotation even in that title.

I have many online friends who reside in places like Denmark and Finland. They have clued me in to a number of popular acts over there that even they are not fond of, and one thing that my ears have noticed is that some of these groups are bucking musical trends that were popular here 10 or 15 odd years ago. Even the record labels push odd Finnish bands on me that are nothing more than hair metal lite. It’s almost as if a time warp enveloped our foreign friends’ musical atmospheres. Now, mind you, I’m not implying here that all bands that way are like this, but I have been surprised by the good number that do seem to be stuck a bit farther back. Not that this matters much in this day and age; the major American record companies seem to want nothing more as of late than cranking out more novelties for quick bucks.

Shall we start with the Darkness? Why not? No one can seem to figure them out. However, Swiss band Edson seem to have, and they’ve already covered “I Believe in a Thing Called Love”, turning it into a sweet ballad a-la “And I Love Her”, and have had some local radio success with it. Ah, irony. But this group is not about the novelty at all, and if you never actually hear a song of theirs on the radio, or forget all about them after you’ve read this review, then what else is new? What this band does do, however, is create gentle pop brimming with acoustic hues with a nice shot of electricity tossed on top. Doesn’t matter if they never make it big over here; what they’re doing in their homeland is good enough. Yes, Edson have their own groove going on.

Every Day, Every Second is filled to the gills with wistful tunes. Vocalist Pelle Carlberg has one of those bittersweet voices that adds the right amount of melancholy to the songs. A quick glancing over the song titles should tell you a bit about what’s stored inside: “And Then She Flung Me the Truth”; “One Last Song About You Know What”; “Minus Minus Equals Plus”; and “Underdog/Overdog” each has a kind of stirring, yearning quality that propels Edson along into a lovely sort of rocked-up chamber pop that really isn’t being explored on our American shores as of late.

So, yes, Edson might be bucking some older trends, but not in the head-scratching fashion. Every Day, Every Second is one of those albums that sits squarely in its own zone, capable of being enjoyed by anyone with a taste for gentle pop in any era. Those feeling adventurous would be right to tune in to this disc, as many lovely surprises are contained within. And everyone else out there would be right in giving Edson a listen as well. Hell, if you love the Darkness — or hate them, for that matter — why not give the band that has properly sent them up a good listen? Edson don’t need the musical irony to show off their talent; they just simply play their songs.