Album Review: Peter, Bjorn and John Endless Dream

Peter Morén, Björn Yttling, and John Eriksson have been making music together for 20 years, hitting commercial paydirt when the whistle-tastic ‘Young Folks’ became one of 2007’s most infectious hits. Endless Dream is their ninth album, and is a laid-back and poptastic antidote to their last release, 2018’s Darker Days – a state-of-the-universe affair that was as bleak as its title suggests. This time around, they’ve left the grim ruminations behind and focused on the kind of catchy electro-pop that made their name, from the laidback opener ‘Music’ to the slinky ‘Drama King’, whose slightly menacing bassline has something of a ’60s’ swish, backed up with busier beats.

The frothy pop of ‘Reasons To Be Reasonable’ is as radio-friendly as they come, while the bittersweet vocal of ‘Endless Reruns’ recalls Ian Broudie in his Lightning Seeds pomp. The driving ‘Out Of Nowhere’ takes a while to get out of second gear, but when it does, it overflows with technicolour pop brilliance, whereas ‘A Week-End’ never really hits top speed. ‘Rusty Nail’ takes its inspiration from a Swedish kids’ song about swapping toys, apparently – not that one would gather that from the lyrics!

Taken individually, these are perfectly acceptable indie-pop efforts, but after a while they start to blend together a little. It’s a pity, because they can put together a really memorable tune, like the closing ‘On The Brink’. It’s a rousing affair, with a vocal that’s not a million miles away from The Waterboys’ Mike Scott in his prime. But too much of Endless Dream plays it safe.

Check out Endless Dream by Peter, Bjorn and John on Spotify!