Ebba Forsberg
Been There
Crítica del álbum
Compañía discográfica: Maverick Recording Company
Fecha de publicación: 1998
Crítica del álbum
As brooders go, Ebba Forsberg, a Swedish singer/songwriter who grew up in Africa, ranks up there with Sade or Marianne Faithfull. But her gorgeously calibrated alto is even plainer than the former's and nowhere near as burned and allusive as the latter's. Working mostly with producer Mats Asplén, Forsberg has created eleven songs that eschew electronic contouring and Scandipop sweetening; yet these minimalist, harmony-shy arrangements never seem dry or antique – they are just strongly what they are. Everywhere, Forsberg's restraint seems endless: Once, on "Carried," a deceptively calm song about loss and the recovery of faith, a distorted guitar appears, revs up the choruses, then vanishes, never to be heard from again. It's like an adult-contemporary ballad as imagined by My Bloody Valentine.
Been There, most of the lyrics for which were written by Forsberg's sister, Kajsa Ribbing, triumphs with uncomplicated language. On "Lost Count," Forsberg sings a darting tune about screwing up: "Lost hope," she confesses, "lost faith/So many times I lost count." On "Most of All," exhaling the subtlest rush of plush melody, she furthers the argument: "Most of all/Life's/Been a fight to survive." Songs like "You Surprise Me" pick up the tempo, even when Forsberg – on balance, about as happy with things as Chris Isaak – despairs. "Hold Me," with its whiff of Seals and Crofts, and the softly glistening "Once Upon a Time" continue to explore Forsberg's levelheaded blues. Then, at the end of her endlessly listenable debut, she finally just does a song called "Didn't Treat Me Right." It's an undisguised torch ballad. (RS 789)
JAMES HUNTER
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