11/20/2008 10:20:34  ♥ written by vu ()

Pelle Carlberg released The Lilac Time last Tuesday with US distributor Darla Records, although the album's been out in Europe since August. We caught up with Pelle in October to talk to him in his homeland of Sweden and he explained a lot of things, so be sure to listen to our interview! I will have to add that some people are hard to interview since sometimes they don't understand when doing radio interviews that they are the person that needs to talk and tell interesting stories - with Pelle that was not a problem at all. My fifteen minute limit for calling internationally went over in no time because Pelle was just so engaging.

For instance, he went on to explain "1983" as if someone who's never heard it but leaving out the punchline. Of course, since I have already loved the song, I can tell you that despite his to-do-away with the Belle & Sebastian comparison, that the song sounds incredibly like a B&S song...

I was surprised to find out that all his songs are based on true events, which leads me to wonder about his taxi ride in "Tired of Being PC" or his car problems on "Metal to Metal" or his hatred for a certain airline on "Fly Me to the Moon" (you get the impression Pelle travels quite a bit).

My favorite fun song on this album is "51, 3", which tells the story about Pelle taking a facebook quiz that tells him his mental age is 51. Just the opening line is well worth hearing.

Fans of Club 8 should take note of Karolina Komstedt's appearance on "Nicknames." He was apparently touring with Club 8 and had asked her to sing on the song with him. The song is quite upbeat and punchy, about reminiscing in their teenage years - going out to see old friends and drinking.

If you like indiepop and don't already own The Lilac Time, you can get it via Darla Records or Labrador. I will have to mention that I have bought things from Darla, and with the more obscure indie bands they may list it but it doesn't mean they have it in stock. This was very annoying when several packages I have ordered in the past end up missing one or two items. To be fair, they did not charge me for the missing items, but still, don't list CDs that you do not have in stock! I haven't ordered from them recently, so they might have changed the way they display what you can or cannot buy. Also, I'm sure with recent products, such as The Lilac Time, they should have them in stock - not to discourage you from ordering, of course.

As a bonus, here are our previous Pelle Carlberg songs we've used in the past:

Clever Girls Like Clever Boys Much More Than Clever Boys Like Clever Girls

Go to Hell, Miss Rydell

Pelle Carlberg - Rocket Man