Mazarin is a beautiful album. It turned 14 on the 10th of June and it still manages to sound fresh out of the oven. Probably the album is very organic, with real instruments, which have the ability to sound amazing no matter how many years have passed since it was first recorded.
This review focuses more on the melodic point of view. I can't understand Swedish well so, yeaahh. It is more like a review from a person who enjoys music, gets to pick Swedish out words she knows and sing them (Swedish-gibbrish) with a focus on the music.
Enjoy!
1. Vilket håll du än gårn
The chirping birds in the beginning tell that you have to smile for the rest of the song. The start gives a whole review that it's going to be a cute song, and hells yeah it is. The song is like an intro to the whole album, how it's going to be like and all, you know. AND the Harmonica. Of course.
I loved this song a lot when I was 13 in 2003. It was my #2 after “ Här kommer alla känslorna (på en och samma gång)”. I wasn't aware of more songs probably. AND the strings, with a focus on cello, ooooohhh! Here, we have also been introduced with the “focused vocals” of Helena. Yes, this was the intro we got 14 years ago to a singer we'd end up going mahi nana over "första pris".
3. På promenad genom stan
I love this song. I love it I love it I love it!!! And I’m sure you love it too. Too many reasons to love this song.
- It's too cute
- It's sha la la la la is catchy
- MARIE FREDRIKSSON
Yes, it's a perfect song. I wish it was a little more famous. It was the first song Marie contributed in after the... You know... And it was friendship which made it happen. Besides, listen to the piano in this song, written all over that it's being played by Mr. Magic Fingers Ofwerman.
We have been introduced to "Jenny". Now who is Jenny? Who was the inspiration behind the name "Jenny"? The radio, some random person, some not so random person or simply because it was a name which sounded good with the rest of the song? It also has a "Cute" factor, you know, tasting the rain. And the key change later in the song, it's just a very very typical Per Gessle song which you just can't not like.
I think it was this song which people made fun of a lot. But why? It is too simple to be a song? Are songs not supposed to be simple. I was not that big a fan of this song earlier, music wise, but I was stupid to even think like that at the age of 13. The chorus part is very goosebump-ish, music wise. (I am too lazy right now to translate what he is singing).
This song sounds like a Gyllene Tider song. Like very very much like a Gyllene Tider song. With the organs, the MP like riffs..... OMG! Please check if the drums are being played by MICKE SYDDDDD AAAAAAAAAAAA.......!!!! Seriously, please let me know, I don't have the booklet of Mazarin.
So, have you heard this song by Per Jackson or Michael Gessle? Haha, Gessle's first official attempt of falsetto. Not bad, but his actual singing voice is a little more attractive, don’t you think so?
8. Tycker om när du tar på mej
What is this instrument which is being played in this song? I can hear it in other songs as well. What is it called? Or is it simply the keyboard? Or is it that frequency instrument with an antenna.... Aaaa... What's it called.... Theremin, yes the theremin. Or a keyoard with the theremin sound? Anyway, Per goes pretty high with his vocal range, and one can feel he is putting an effort in it. Pretty amazing, isn't it?
Another Gyllene Tider like song. It just reminds me a lot of the music of Blondie. I mean, with this music, if you suddenly hear Debbie Harry's voice, don’t be surprised.
10. För bra för att vara sant
This was my first time coming across the word "bra" in a song. I was 13 and I thought that Per has probably written a song about a girl who left her bra at his home. Quite a lot of years later, I got to know that I was wrong. I love the melody of this song, and esp the "woo ohhh ohhh" choir-like part ("The Beach Boys" much?). The middle 8 always captures me. Its has that vintage sound which can only be produced in the AGM studios.
11. Här kommer alla känslorna (på en och samma gång)
This was the first song which we all heard from Per after Roxette, and we all, yes, everyone of us went gaga over it. It's a song which is loved by everyone. Me and my brother were C.R.A.Z.Y about it, even my mother knows the melody of it perfectly. Although the song is pretty sad, but the music bluffs well if you don't know Swedish. I even got a translated version from google of this song, and used to sing it with the basic chords I learned on the keyboard. Ohhh, this song *heart eyed emoji*.
12. Jag tror du bär på en stor hemlighet
The song doesn't attract as much when it starts, but once the song proceeds, you get into the groove of it, and can feel your heard move with the melody. It has one of the most important lines in the history of Roxette related songs - "Andas in, andas ut". Ask Kiwein how important this line is for her. Her personal blog, "Planet Kiwein" has this written on it's main cover. Besides, "Breathe in, breathe out" - Important for everyone's life.
This song gives a very professional feel to it. You know, "I'm a very serious and mature song". Although this song translates to "Warm again", but this song sounds the best in winters. Language barrier, I think? But that spooky choir makes you go in another dimension, doesn't it?
A basic mixture of the whole album, in instrumental form. This could've been in "Small Apartments" as well, or may be this impressed Jonas Akerlund to ask Per for music for his upcoming movie. Besides, "Per Gessle" and "Scener" also had instrumentals, you know? The birds chirping in the end concludes that the whole album has been made in a way that you feel you are sitting in a park on a sunny summer day.
So here is my experience of listening to Mazarin 14 years after it's release. It still sounds fresh and very enjoyable. I'm not saying it as a Per Gessle fan, I'm saying it as a music lover. If it wasn't a Per album, I still would've appriciated it, and probably migth've heard it a lot more times after the first time.
What so you think of the album, I'd love to know your comments too.
