unworld.afterpop

Malmo, Sweden’s Sternpost returns to Concentric Circles with unworld.afterpop. Following on the heels of the much loved Ulrika, the new album from Sternpost, AKA multi-instrumentalist Petter Herbertsson, shimmers with immersive, cinematic arrangements that sound like they could have only come from a dream. Taking inspiration from Paddy McAloon of Prefab Sprout’s “I Trawl the Megahertz” and “A Breath of Life” by Brazilian author Clarice Lispector, with some bits of Van Dyke Parks and Art Bears thrown in for good measure, it is apparent from the start that unworld.afterpop is no scrappy DIY affair. The songs are alive with an unbelievably lush and warm production quality, belying their homerecorded origins. Not content to simply rest on his laurels and repeat himself from release to release, unworld.afterpop sits at the meeting point between Herbertsson’s more overtly pop structured group Testbild! (four of whose members appear here), and Sternpost’s explorations into harmonic texture and countermelody. Albums this richly ambitious, detailed and dare we say “mature” feel almost out of step with modern music, having more in common with grand late 60s or early 70s productions, when producers working in a “pop” context were more likely to stack layers in the studio, creating mini orchestras of sound. Most importantly, nothing here feels superfluous or unnecessary, with every detail and instrument simply being exactly where it should be.