Nils Landgren: Eternal Beauty

Rating: ★★★

Record and Artist Details

Musicians:

Nils Landgren (tr, voc)
Rasmus Kihlberg (d)
Lisa Nilsson (v)
Lars Danielson (b)
Johan Norberg (g)
Michael Wollny (p)

Label:

ACT

March/2014

Catalogue Number:

956-2

RecordDate:

August 26-28 2013

Best known for his funk outfits, Landgren may yet be best loved for the delicate melancholy of his ballad albums. The Moon, The Stars and You showcased Landgren's tuxedoed charms and Eternal Beauty likewise has less trombone and more of that unaffected, fragile voice. The melancholy edge is partly down to Landgren's continued sense of loss for Esbjörn Svensson, whose melodic pulse runs through much of the album, most notably in the title track penned by Wollny, whose own piano work illuminates Eternal Beauty. To be honest, the schmaltz content is high: do we really need another cover of ‘Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight’ or ‘Get Here’? But some readings will surprise you, such as ‘We Don't Need Another Hero’, done as diametrically opposed to Tina Turner as you could imagine. But it's the spirit of Svensson that persists, and the recording rightly climaxes with two of his songs, ‘Dear Diary’ and ‘Love Is Real’. One could carp that we could do with more of Landgren's trombone, as featured on the instrumental ‘One Frozen Moment’, born out of the moment the band heard of Svensson's death, but fans will embrace this change from the funkman's usual style.

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