Is Life Pretty To You or Just Pretty Fucked Up
The intro is pure Stevie Nicks, which I love. Things have been pretty crappy for me lately, and I like the idea of a Swedish Fleetwood Mac. The dynamic between partners David Fridlund and Sara Culler is just beautiful. And while the song starts out quietly and calmly, it isn't long until Fridlund erupts into a much harder-edged explosion, chanting "tied to the wheel that keeps you going round and round and round." Then Sara comes back to lead him away from all the stress and hurt. It's amazing to me, and really, it's what I need to be hearing right now.
The problem is, he doesn't make it in time. That's really sad, but highly understandable to me. This is easily the darkest, coldest song on the record. The rest is quite more upbeat.
Anyway, this is the opening track off of Fridlund's solo record, recently released on Parasol records. He also records as David & The Citizens, who are a highly acclaimed Swedish pop band. This album is a wonderful piano-driven pop record, wonderfully recorded on a Tascam 8-track. It's definitely got a cold, winter feel to it, fitting in nicely as the mercury drops here in LA (well, at least at night anyway). You can buy the album Direct from Parasol for 10 bucks. It's definitely recommended.
*there is about 2 seconds of static at the beginning of the track, and that's not an accident. It's connected to the 12-second intro of the album, which is mostly just static.