Social get-togethers in our neck of the woods primarily bump modern kick-clap-kick-clap hits or nostalgia tunes from pre-college years, but Todd Terje’s debut LP would do just as well at ushering in an upbeat spring while bringing indie cred that most party playlists are sorely lacking.
The Norwegian Terje has been active for a good part of the last decade or so, but has yet to produce a full-length release. His singles and live performances have served him well enough, but as Terje seems to realize, it really is album time.
Terje’s well-received 2012 jam “Inspector Norse” brings up the rear of his first album, which is an interesting move because it would have served just as well as an opener. It would have been an easy: Indie followers would have been able to walk in and hang their hat on something they already know and trust the quality of.
The near-7-minute track is thumping and whimsical, a sturdy rhythmic skeleton with strong muscles that contract, expand and let it move forward. It is what good dance music should be: the rhythm is constant and propelling so you can move and work your backside without worrying about keeping up, but if you’re resting your posterior, it sounds just as good, if not better, with a pair of worthwhile audio equipment and an attentive ear.
Based on that description and what has already been said, putting this gem as the first item on the bill would have been a supremely effective move. It seems, however, that Terje didn’t want to cruise by on what he accomplished two years ago.
What ends up happening on “It’s Album Time” is that instead of it being the main feature, “Inspector Norse” is something of an afterthought. If “It’s Album Time” is your closet, “Inspector Norse” is the pair of pants you haven’t worn in a while that has a forgotten $20 bill in the pocket. The primary product is so satisfying that by the time you near the end, you forgot all about what might be the best part.
That says something about the strength of the cuts preceding “Inspector Norse.”
“Swing Star, Pt. 1” and “[…] Pt. 2” also appear on “It’s the Arps,” the 2012 EP that’s the original home of “Inspector Norse,” which are also highlights that were placed near the end to avoid imposing upon the newer material. If treated as one composition, “Swing Star” is a longer and less immediate but equally satisfying counterpart to its shorter comrades, something akin to what Phoenix did on their most recent two albums with “Love Like a Sunset” and “Bankrupt!”
To carry on with making it all about the “It’s the Arps” tracks, it would seem an interesting — perhaps bizarre — move to include two 2-year-old, previously released tracks on a new album. But after getting used to them as part of the tracklist and actually listening, it’s clear they are contemporaries to the newer songs, cast from the same mold.
That’s not to say the new tracks show Terje stuck in a creative rut where he is unable to do anything new. If anything, “It’s the Arps” was a tease that left more to be wanted and “It’s Album Time” is the fulfillment of that desire. Cuts like “Delorean Dynamite” and “Strandbar” are fresh and exciting, exploring new ground while not straying too far away from their forefathers.
There is an important difference between “It’s Album Time” and contemporary dance music. Today’s get-up-and-move hits are great at making listeners… well, get up and move. But when less kinetic energy is in play, there is far less life in the songs. They thrive when scoring physical activity. That’s not a terrible thing: they serve a single purpose and serve it well.
Terje’s latest batch of sounds, however, is versatile. It can work perfectly in that setting, but can also be enjoyed by the less coordinated and rhythmically inclined.
It’s a dance album. It’s more than that, too.
Grade: B+