Surprise! Owen Pallett made you a sandwich! It comes in the form of his new Swedish Love Story EP. The bread is upbeat, with the usual bulk of Pallett’s pizzicato strings doing their best synthesizer impression. The book-ends of the EP are bleary-eyed and bouncy. The meat of the album showcases Owen, back doing his neo-classical routine, and doing it very well, as usual, with layers of leaping violin counter-melodies. This EP is a success and a truly fluid listen, because despite the outer tracks and inner tracks forming a stark line between Pallett’s musical hemispheres, they also (via key and imagery) play very, very well together. “Honour the Dead, or else” is the only track on the album that really makes a dedicated effort to marry the two musical faces of the EP, and it adds up to a very compelling sound. Here’s hoping that’s where we’re headed in future releases from Owen.
