On
Fever, Norway's
Thomas Dybdahl returns home to Starvanger from his late-night L.A. studio sojourn with producer
Larry Klein on
All These Things. Working at his 1micadventure studio with longtime collaborator and hip-hop producer
Håvard Rosenberg, the nine tracks here are emphatically D.I.Y.:
Dybdahl played virtually all the instruments and tracked almost all vocals. The most jarring thing in the mix is the absence of his trademark acoustic guitar in favor of an electric. The motivating factor was to make a soulful guitar record that didn't sound like one, and that balanced the vintage and the fresh simultaneously. They listened to classic artists ranging from
Nina Simone and
Aretha Franklin to
Sam Cooke and
Bill Withers, from
Ray Charles and Sly Stone to
D'Angelo,
Raphael Saadiq, and
Michael Kiwanuka in order to kindle the creative spark.
Fever feels like its title: It's a sultry, sensual album that employs vintage instruments and modern production techniques to orchestrate
Dybdahl's thoroughly contemporary songwriting. First single and opener "45" is a case in point; it digs into a
Willie Hutch-esque, hooky guitar vamp with breakbeat snares and a funky bassline. In the lyric,
Dybdahl urgently offers his best
Curtis Mayfield impression. The title cut is a deep, murky, urban love ballad; its desperation and longing saturate the mix and create a decisive tension. In the fractured nightmare funk of "Dance the Pain Away,"
Dybdahl sounds like he's fronting the
Remain In Light-era
Talking Heads. "On My Way to California" and "Call Me by Your Name" find
Dybdahl literally channeling the
Jeff Buckley of "Everybody Here Wants You," accompanied by layered reverb, sparkling keyboards, and chunky guitar that frame his aching vocal. "Patience" is a moody choogler à la
Syl Johnson, with loose guitar licks, layered percussion, and a syncopated bassline.
Dybdahl's singing touches on both
Bobby Blue Bland and
Al Green in its blissed-out chorus. What's most interesting about
Fever is that while it doesn't quite fit with
All These Things, it links inseparably to
Dybdahl's other recordings. It's a deliberate retro-soul offering that could only have been made in the 21st century.
Dybdahl's writing -- lyrically and musically -- and arrangements are provocative and emotionally resonant; with all the crooning here, it's a prime candidate for a babymaker album. It's also a minor marvel in terms of sonics, sequencing, and execution. ~ Thom Jurek