In the Evening: Friday music recommendation #13

I love Twitter.

I admit, I was skeptical at first, but now I don't know what I'd do without it. It's how I get a lot of my news; it's how I keep up with some of my favorite actors and writers. It's where I find some of the best music, photos, videos, websites, recipes, and stories. And, of course, it's one of the many ways I can communicate with my wonderful, witty friends. All in 140 characters or less. Brevity is a beautiful thing.

I started out following only a few people, mostly people I know, but that number has climbed steadily; now I'm following nearly 90 people (...NINETY?!). I still don't quite know how that happened, and I spend far too much time reading everyone's posts (I still can't bring myself to call them 'tweets'), but this ever-evolving community of really cool people makes the time suck...kinda worth it. Really.

(This is supposed to be a music recommendation post, right? Right. On with the music!)

A couple weeks ago, actor John Cabrera posted a link to a song on Twitter, describing it as "Bowie-big." That piqued my curiosity, and, one listen later, led me to an instant obsession with a young Norwegian singer-songwriter named Sondre Lerche (such a lovely, lyrical name, don't you think?). Only 19 when his first album was released in 2002, he's since released four more, including a jazz album and a film soundtrack (for Dan in Real Life).

Overall, his sound tends toward the kind of sunny, dreamy, fun, and complex pop that I adore. I hear Beck, the Beatles, the Fratellis, and Elvis Costello in his voice and his song arrangements. I also hear jazz, swing, rock, bossa nova, '60s pop... just really interesting, varied, sophisticated, thoughtful songcraft that moves easily and assuredly from soft, sweet, melodic ballads to upbeat, rock-tinged pop. I love the music, but I'm also impressed by it. And did I mention that I love his voice? And his lovely falsetto?

Sigh. I think I'm in love.

What do you think?

"Two Way Monologue"