The newest release from the Swedish foursome sees them veering away from their nominally emo stance in favor of a more straightforward American pop sound. In fact, they sometimes sound more American than most American bands, which is a little scary. In the case of Four Hours Light, it has something to do with the album's melancholy tone, for this is a disc that deals almost exclusively with romantic breakups.
The most powerful weapon in Starmarket's arsenal is vocalist Frederik Brandstrom's tendency to sound like a nasally-impaired Bob Mould. This might not sound like much, but by invoking Sugar (as opposed to Hüsker Dü), Brandstrom seems like more than just another skinny kid with a guitar. He's more mature-sounding, less likely to go for emo's trademark tone-deaf scream when he can actually handle the melody. Combined with crashing, seething pop guitars, he's able to add heft to likeable tunes like "Count with Fractions" -- and most importantly, he doesn't sound whiny. To listeners over 25, that's an important factor.
In another significant move, Starmarket aren't afraid to attempt more traditional ballads. "Without No I" lolls lazily on waves of keyboard melody, undulating towards brief choruses of understated guitar turmoil and a louder finale. More daringly, "When the Light in my Heart is Out" and "Tonight" keep the guitars in the background, riding herd on them with heart-tugging piano lines. "Tonight" in particular is a heart-rending six-minute epic that deserves to find its way into a movie soundtrack some time soon.
Fear not -- the band can still rock. "Into Your Arms" adds poky keyboard jabbing to its anthemic chorus, while "Don't Leave Me This Way" is the sort of heart-lifting, hook-intensive classic pop that Bob Mould would be proud to put his name to.
Yeah, they've written an album about breaking up, and their song titles can be kind of trite, but chalk that up to the Being From Sweden thing. If Four Hours Light establishes one thing, it proves that when the last emo band has been run out of town, Starmarket will still be around and going strong.
