Somebody Outside [Import]

Anna Ternheim is a 28 year-old singer-songwriter who hails from Stockholm. Her second album Separation Road is due for release in Sweden at time of writing (Oct 06), but she might struggle to top this, her wonderfully compelling debut album from 2004. For the recording of Somebody Outside, Ternheim relocated her band to a remote Swedish Island called Gotland. This isolated atmosphere no doubt lent itself to some intense self-scrutiny, the result being a seductive folk-pop record that aches with the hurt and loneliness of a recent break-up.

Somebody Outside starts wonderfully with the haunting `To Be Gone' - a beguiling tune that, like much of her work, wouldn't sound out of place in 1966. Adding to this feel is Ternheim herself, whose arresting vocal style seems preserved from another era - four decades ago, to be precise. On the glorious, shimmering `Better Be' the singer works through her feelings of loss and trying to move on after being burnt by love, and when the background textures, atmospheric guitar sounds and Ternheim' soaring voice all collide, the effect is little short of magical. The propulsive `A French Love' sounds like a classic chase-scene out of a James Bond movie. Elsewhere, songs like `I'll Follow You Tonight' or `I Say No' are more understated musically, but no less gripping, or beautiful in execution. The record finishes as strongly as it started, with the captivating `My Secret' and the delicate, piano-led closer `Shoreline' - a song so warm, moving and emotionally honest, it could thaw out the most frosted-over of hearts.

Anna Ternheim is a bewitching talent and a remarkable find. I can't wait to hear more from her.

Like this? Try >
Ane Brun - A Temporary Dive
Girl Called Eddy - A Girl Called Eddy

If you listen to Radio Paradise on iTunes, a song called "To Be Gone" has most likely found you clicking on that little window to discover who's behind it's deliriously cascading chorus. Anna Ternheim is a 26 year old (hopefully) destined for the same level of adulation that greeted Keren Ann a couple of years ago.

With a similar vocal style, charming in its occasional uncertainty, Ternheim is also up for the occasional rock out, like the Dick Dale-inspired 'A French Love', but it's the mid- and slow-tempo tracks that bookend the album ("To Be Gone"/"Better Be"/"I'll Follow You Tonight" and "My Secret"/"Shoreline") that prove the opening track is no one-off.

At 39 minutes, it never outlives its welcome, and even if a couple of tracks ("Bring Down Like I" and "Somebody's Outside") edge towards the formulaic, there's always another fragile, soaring delight just around the corner.

The first song after I heard about her was 'My Secret', one of my favorites. She's got sort of her own great sound. I really can't think of anyone else that really sounds like her.

If you're hesitant about buying her debut from overseas, don't. Its worth it.