Sondre Lerche — Heartbeat Radio

After making a giant shift from his twee big band phase with the surprisingly potent rock record Phantom Punch, Norwegian pop prince Sondre Lerche takes a slight step back with his latest album, Heartbeat Radio.

Musically, the album features some imaginative arrangements that take inspiration from the poppier side of the original new wave — think Squeeze meets Prefab Sprout. In fact, "I Cannot Let You Go" easily could be mistaken as a lost track from the latter's brilliant Steve McQueen album, especially with the echoing female vocals in the song's chorus.

There's a greater presence of strings on Heartbeat Radio, especially on the title track and blazing opener "Good Luck." The strings effectively support Lerche's charming croon. Mining a different territory, the soulful rhythm on "If Only" the song impressively captures the philly soul sound of Gamble & Huff.

The one glaring weakness in Lerche's songwriting continues to be his lyrical content. It was less evident on Phantom Punch because of the complexity and brilliance of that album's musical support.

On Heartbeat Radio, there's a mix of good and bad lyrics. There's clever lyricism in Lerche's tale of measuring up ("Like Lazenby") and in the give-and-take of relationships, ("Easy To Persuade"). But there are also some corny moments that make you remember English is still Lerche's second language.