Peter Moren

Tobias Froberg

Troubadour - May 3, 2008

Live Review by Thomas Hillard

We’re in a high tide of great new international music. With so many bands and artists, a search for the latest and most talked of is totally daunting. If you started one of these searches in the depths of the Swedish folk rock circuit you might be lucky enough to stumble upon Tobias Fröberg or Peter Morén. My personal jealousies about the Swedes aside, it’s nice to have something new to love about the land of tall beautiful people. Fröberg and Morén are just some of these great original sweet/indie/poppy songsters to bestow their influences upon us.
 
Fröberg released his first record For Elisabeth Wherever She Is in 2004. Since the first record Fröberg has produced and recorded many other artists. He has also released two more albums of his own including the May 13th release and his self produced Turn Heads. With Fröberg, the well runs deep, he is clearly a multi-tasker with way more then meets the eye.
 
It’s embarrassing but true; I’d never been to Troubadour before coming to see this Swedish double bill. I prefer smaller rooms where the artists are still trying out new ideas and the audience ratio of fan to newcomer is one in ten. It was a pleasure to discover the venue after everything I’d heard about it because the crowd was just right. Not too many people and not painfully empty. Now I can admit it, I love the “Troub”, there isn’t a bad spot in the house and on this oh-so-Swedish night, this magnified the intimacy in just the right way.
 
Fröberg's band was slim, calm, and tight. A standard ensemble of bass, drums, keyboard, and Tobias on acoustic electric guitar. Instead of grabbing onlookers with action and wow, his band used stillness and quiet like a death blow. Between songs he broke out of character (or was it in?) with smiles and humor in his soft Swedish manner. But in song he was true; he shared universally experienced lessons of life and in doing so stitched everyone in the room together for the entire set.
 
Like the new batch of tunes on Turn Heads, Fröberg's performance was a mix and match of hard and soft, personal then telling and often reflective - a momentary open door to his life and spirit without dilution or distortion. From one song to the next it was a serene landscape of experience and feeling. Optimism and sadness were served then broken up with bright innovative sequences of pop and indie rock, and then curled right back into times of losing fun to heartbreak. At this point I must sound totally whipped - which very well could be, but keep in mind the singing accent of a European raised on British and American pop always gets me.
 
In the final song Fröberg took a solo on keyboard and within minutes Peter Morén - the headliner for the night - came out to play a fresh set of songs which no doubt had a good chunk of Fröberg’s mastery in them too. To top off the “man behind the curtain” effect, it was of little surprise to see Fröberg  appear on stage again, only this time to sit at Morén’s drum set.
 
Peter Morén is best known for his contribution to Peter Björn and John's (PBJ) track “Young Folks”; a song that had everyone who listened to Top 40 radio last summer whistling the oh too familiar melody like it was disease. It’s interesting to hear Peter Morén in his own element. No doubt it’s the same voice from PBJ - only the content of the message is far deeper. Instead of a drum track to dance to and poppy bass line, Morén’s instrumentation is quieter, more acoustic. His posture is still and almost stoic and he stares intently as if confessing to the audience.
 
I’m horrible at picking out lyrics the first time I hear anything new. Thankfully Morén put his guitar and lyrics in the forefront upstaging the occasional 2nd guitar or clap track provided care of Tobias. This central focus on the words and melody helped me to hear what the songs were about tremendously which is great because Morén's songs have a lot to say.
 
Both Fröberg and Morén seem humble and in it for the music which is so refreshing. They are focused heavily on the silence and elements around them. They compliment each other in so many ways. On this pleasant Saturday night they brought a wonderful new taste to the occasionally stale indie pop scene in Hollywood. Catch these guys on their next swing through town, and you’ll find yourself - and a new reason to love the Swedes.