Healing balm for the world

(Morning Star, Friday 08 September 2006)

ALBUM: Peter, Bjorn and John - Writer's Block
(Wichita)

IF the summer seemed frighteningly brief and the autumn rains have set in all too soon, this record will make it all better.

Putting Writer's Block onto your stereo will make you younger, the sound of sunshine that spills forth from your speakers proof enough that there is such things as light and love and, truthfully, that the world is better and more interesting than awarding the Mercury Music Prize to the Arctic Monkeys.

From the opening title track onwards, Peter, Bjorn and John explore a world of youth, heartbreak and hope, creating a soundtrack for young people in flared trousers moving to the music as in an episode of Ulysses 31.

Single Young Folks has the aural appeal of an afternoon spent chilling out with Felicity Kendal, all wholesome harmonies and an irresistible chorus, the like of which Air would be proud.

Amsterdam is a fine example of relaxed, folky pop and Let's Call It Off is a harmony-heavy delight with a chorus that stays with you as you enter the real world once again, refusing to be brought down by the dull and vexatious.

Buy this record and make it a family heirloom. Music like Peter, Bjorn and John play is the road map for world peace and it's destined to make everything better.