Peter Bjorn and John 'Endless Dream' review: A classic with new delightful twists and turns
Swedish indie pop-rock band Peter Bjorn and John are celebrating their 20-year anniversary with their latest album, 'Endless Dream', out on March 13.
Most people might recognize PB&J from their insanely popular 2006 single 'Young Folks' featuring Victoria Bergsman. And if that's your background knowledge of the group, then 'Endless Dream' will seem right up their alley. It's chirpy and upbeat and gets you on your feet.
But if you've followed the group for a while you would know they took a few detours as they experimented with their sound, and they went in quite an interesting direction with 'Dark Days', the predecessor to 'Endless Dream'.
And after playing around with their sound and style, they began working on this album almost immediately and had it counter the vibe of 'Dark Days'. The result is this brighter sounding follow-up that despite being in contrast to their more recent work is still very much a PB&J album. Speaking of the experience, Peter says, "We were in a good place...it’s the light to the darkness – the day to the night." John adds, "This time the tone is bright. It’s about people trying to find colors in this dark world."
At a time when most artists are leaning towards darker music with some very heavy lyrics, PB&J break formation to put out something that is so positive and bright that it seems almost misplaced in a world that is reeling from pandemics and potential global wars. And that makes it a welcome entry at a time when many might be looking for something a little lighter to help them escape the gloom, if only for just a little while.
Musically, 'Endless Dream' has all the elements that make up PB&J. There's the unmistakeable light echoing vocals, psychedelic rock beats, and lyrics that transport you to a different time and place, combined with some of the darker sounds that characterized their more recent work and a perfect retro 70s sound to tie it all together.
Speaking of their choice to go back to a simpler in-house process, Bjorn says, "We realized we wanted to cut the crap, so we rehearsed songs in the same room and recorded together. For post-production, every guy was on his own taking care of his baby – and then we came back and had our baby together."
Opener 'Music' is as PB&J as a song can get, but the following track 'Reason To Be Reasonable' is the one that really sets the tone for the rest of the album. It's a happy-go-lucky tune that really brings on the waves of nostalgia because it sounds like the lead-in to an episode of a wholesome early-2000s TV show. Kind of like OK Go's 'Don't Ask Me' off the 'Smallville' soundtrack. The rest of the album maintains this vibe, with a few interesting sidesteps along the way that do not in any way take you out of the experience that is 'Endless Dream'.
Following 'Reason To Be Reasonable', the album unfolds to reveal more 70s influences. 'Drama King', in particular, has a Bowie and Beatles-esque sound to it, but still keeps some of the peppiness of the other songs allowing it to blend right in with the rest of the album. On its own, though, it's definitely one of the darker sounding tracks off the album. 'Rusty Nail' picks things back up by bringing some reggae rock into the album, giving us something closer to The Police.
'Endless Reruns' is once again a PB&J song in every way, with vocals, guitars, and drums taking lead - the holy grail of a classic rock song. 'Idiosyncracy', however, makes things a lot more interesting by changing things up a bit musically and leaning heavily into the retro 70s influences along with a darker sound. And the music works in perfect harmony with the songs lyrics: "Got a tremendous ability / A narcissistic ebriety / I'm too vain to be insane...Superficially I'm all that matters to me." It's a darker song with darker lyrics for sure, yet it moves seamlessly into 'Out Of Nowhere' - a track that is essentially a culmination of everything we've heard from the album so far. It's upbeat and dark, retro and contemporary, and it has some signature sounding vocals from PB&J with some beautiful instrumentals to match.
'Simple Song Of Sun' once again picks things back up and with 'Weekend', you get the feeling that you're ready to let loose and just enjoy the moment. You'd expect a euphoric ending to follow but the closing track 'On The Brink' slows it back down while keeping a sense of hope for what comes next. In a press release Peter said, "In line with most of the other songs on Endless Dream, ‘On the Brink’ has a cautiously positive philosophical outlook on life and the shortcomings of being. It looks onward with a grain of hope and confidence. It wonders what’s really important when everything comes to a head and the mind is boggled with how extremely tiny we all are compared to the vastness of the universe...Maybe to live in the present with abandon and dare to dream (even endless hopeless dreams), gaze at the world with a wider and more allowing perspective, and not judge too hard and understand the importance of forgiveness."
'Endless Dream' is ultimately an extremely catchy indie-pop album, but it also happens to be a subtly uplifting release that comes at a time when the world could really use just that.