A departure from their last two releases, Peter Bjorn and John’s eighth album Darker Days shows the band embracing a greater degree of creative freedom.
When Peter Bjorn and John recorded their 2016 album Breakin’ Point, they recruited big-name pop producers Paul Epworth (who’s worked with Charli XCX and Robyn), Greg Kurstin (Adele, Sia), and Emile Haynie (Lana Del Rey, Bruno Mars), presumably in the hopes of a releasing a smash hit. The reception was much more modest, but like Franz Ferdinand and their single “Take Me Out,” Peter Bjorn and John have lived in the shadow of their 2006 breakthrough hit “Young Folks.” Breakin’ Point, and to a lesser extent 2011’s Gimme Some, were both upbeat and accessible pop albums saturated with radio-friendly tracks, yet neither came close to regaining their mid-2000s attention, let alone containing another “Young Folks.” As an expected yet unfortunate consequence, they have edged onto some one-hit wonder lists, always with that perennial disclaimer of “the band continues to make music.”
This dismissive attitude is a shame, since Peter Bjorn and John’s eighth album Darker Days deserves far more than a “they’re still around?”
A marked departure from their last two releases, the album has a more expansive and, true to the title, darker sound that’s not too far off from their overlooked 2009 release Living Thing. Without pop aspirations this time around, Peter Bjorn and John have embraced a greater degree of creative freedom that results in a very memorable album.
You may see the album’s title and artwork of broken bones and wonder how dark a band like Peter Bjorn and John could realistically get. Well, they haven’t exactly gone goth, but the track “Velvet Sky” contains lines like “make it brief, just tell me it’s over” and “there’s a million ways to die,” all over the most foreboding instrumentals the band has ever put together. While this is the most extreme example on Darker Days, there’s a general pall looming over the album that’s impossible to ignore. “Wrapped Around the Axle” has the same thumping bassline as Modest Mouse’s “Float On,” but with lyrics all about pessimism rather than optimism. There’s even a song called “Dark Ages” that features abstract commentary on the times we live in, an oddly similar concept to MGMT’s “Little Dark Age.” It’s a little striking to hear Peter Morén, the same singer best known for a whistling-heavy love duet, tell us “we’re stuck in the dark here, no light and no way out.”
For all this darkness, Peter Bjorn and John haven’t abandoned their general style, and Darker Days isn’t a total 180 from pop like 2008’s Seaside Rock. In fact, the album’s best tracks combine pop melodies with darker tones, a technique the group has subtly touched on in the past. Drummer John Eriksson takes lead vocals on “Every Other Night,” which is the best song the band have made since Living Thing’s title track. While it features a quick tempo driven by prominent snares and a punctuating bassline, its head-bobbing melody contrasts a tale of regret with a refrain of “kicking myself in the morning, kicking myself at night.” Bassist Björn Yttling meanwhile leads the single “Gut Feeling,” which has all the trappings of a classic PB&J song. There’s the distorted vocal sampling effect they’ve employed on past tracks like “Tomorrow Has to Wait” and “Nothing to Worry About,” and a catchy chorus where Peter chimes in. Only this time, the vocal chant remarks “I guess we need to talk about it, if we don’t want to live without it,” and the titular “gut feeling” is that something’s wrong. Both tracks may not sound particularly gloomy on the surface, but their deceptive nature makes them real highlights on Darker Days.
Occasionally, Darker Days does show sides of Peter Bjorn and John never seen before. “Silicon Valley Blues” is their most direct social commentary to date, moreso than “Dark Ages,” as it’s exclusively about the death of privacy in an increasingly online world, and how someone (who may or may not be Mark Zuckerberg) knows all about your life. Getting vaguely political is a new development for the band, yet the song is a little clunky, with an uneven pace and lyrics like “collecting all the data, they catch up with you later.” Better is the album’s closing track, “Heaven and Hell.” Clocking in at over eight and a half minutes, it’s the longest song Peter Bjorn and John have ever released, and has a gentle feel with quieter instrumentals and backing vocals sung in the band’s native Swedish. Add an extended ambient synth outro to this, and it’s not only a nice way to close the album, but it’s also unlike anything the band has ever done.
In a press release for Darker Days, the band revealed that the album was recorded quite quickly, with the title coming first as a unifying theme and each member working somewhat distinctively on their own tracks. This explains why the album is so varied, yet sometimes leads to recurring stumbling points. For instance, Morén’s tracks can get a little lyrically repetitive, especially with the phrases “it’s a dream, it’s a dream” on “One for the Team” and “now the dark ages are back” on “Dark Ages.” Similarly, while Yttling’s knack for pop production shines through “Gut Feeling,” it gets snagged in the two-note synthesizer of “Sick and Tired.”
Even though the existence of Living Thing prevents Darker Days from being uncharted territory for Peter Bjorn and John, it doesn’t feel unoriginal or repetitive within their discography. Darker Days is ambitious, often captivating, and yes, dark. It may be the least uplifting album the group have made, but it’s also among their best.
Rating: 7.5/10
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