One Track Mind

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On September 22nd, Afternoon Records released Beauties Never Die, the third album from Norway’s Sissy Wish. The duo is lead and largely defined by vocalist Siri Wålberg, whose delivery blends elements of the powerful and the pixieish. While Wålberg still hasn’t quite cracked the North American scene, her work has garnered plenty of attention in her native country; her sophomore effort, Tuning In, netted her a Norwegian Grammy (Spellemannsprisen) for Best Female Artist. Abroad, fans have come to expect an eclectic, even confounding mix of sounds and styles from Sissy Wish, whose records boast banjos and fuzzed out electronics happily coexisting with maracas and toy pianos.

“Dwts” takes its name from the song’s opening moments (“Don’t want to start”), which feature glistening bits of electric piano, a repetitive guitar lick, a propulsive drum track, and synthesized embellishments. Within moments, one thing is clear: like so many great artists before her, Wålberg possesses a voice the listener needs to buy into. It’s a deal breaker, but those who can get on board are in for a treat as “Dwts” wanders through kaleidoscopic musical territory that lands somewhere between the work of fellow Scandinavians Annie and Robyn.

Unlike her contemporaries, however, Wålberg sings over a far denser, richer backdrop and largely eschews Robyn’s tendency toward pure pop in favor of a less conventional take on electrified indie rock that recalls the more recent efforts of Tahiti 80. “Dwts” frequently soars but it balances these passages with moments of distorted tension that keep Sissy Wish from ever sounding too slick. The result is music that is blessed with both the accessibility of great pop music (Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone” is an odd but apt bedfellow) and the inventiveness to keep it above the rest of pop pap.