Sondre Lerche & the Faces Down Quartet - Duper Sessions

Sondre Lerche & the Faces Down Quartet
Duper Sessions
Astralwerks
Grade: A-/A

It is amazing that Sondre Lerche doesn’t get as much love in the press and music world in general as he rightly deserves. Everything Lerche touches is gold and how can you quibble with one of the coolest crooners going. After his debut Faces Down (2002) and the gorgeous Two Way Monologue (2004), Lerche decide to have some fun before settling down to record his third rock record. The outcome is the jazz-infused lounge pop Duper Sessions – one of the sweetest records of the year. The Faces Down Quartet is simply Lerche’s usual backing band, Kato Adland (guitar), Morten Skage (bassist), and drummer (Ole Ludvig Kruger), and pianist Erik Halvorsen. Duper is the name of the studio in Bergen, Norway, where the group recorded this fourteen-track tour de force. Naturally, Duper Sessions would be nothing without Lerche’s brilliant vocals or without the Faces Down sweet backing. Keeping most of the songs in the three-minute range and recording live over only a few days, Duger Sessions makes you feel instantly 1950s jazz hip. Save for a couple of rockers (e.g., the excellent “The Curse of Being in Love”), Lerche could easily be the new Sinatra if he so desired; though he maintains this is just a one-off detour…for now. Duper Sessions includes three covers: a dazzling version of Elvis Costello’s “Human Hands” (on the non-North American version this is replaced by Gordon and Warren’s “The More I See You”), Cole Porter’s “Night and Day” where they scruff up the sound, and oddly a complete lounge version of Prefab Sprout’s “Nightingales.” Without that piece of information or a unique knowledge of Prefab Sprout there is no way you’d recognize it. While all the tracks on Duper Sessions offer special moments look out for the stellar opener “Everyone’s Rooting For You,” the slow, wordy “Minor Detail,” the vocal pulling on “Once In Awhile,” and the strings-drenched “I Wanna Call It Love.” Even though Duper Sessions is a one-off affair, it is pure Lerche and only whets your appetite for his next ‘proper’ album. The only thing is…will it be as spectacular?