Sternpost

Sternpost

unworld.afterpop

Concentric Circles

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.Concentric Circles is incredibly honored to present new recordings from Sternpost, with a release that reminds you that sometimes a really good, fully formed album is the best way to...

Sternpost

Ulrika

Concentric Circles

Every so often an album comes along that, from the very first seconds, fills one with a state of overwhelm and wonder, knowing that one has stumbled upon something truly special. Swedish musician Petter Herbertsson has been steadily recording and releasing albums for over two decades with his group Testbild! (not to mention many other projects under various aliases), but he recorded his so-far career defining statement with Ulrika, an album of almost imperceptible beauty. Quietly released at the tail end of 2023 by Sweden’s Dilettante Productions in an edition of 199 copies, Ulrika unfolds like a flower in the morning sun, slowly opening and unveiling itself to the world. It’s hard to believe that Herbertsson plays all of the instruments on the album, as it is an especially sumptuous affair, with guitar, vibraphone, all manner of keys (including some especially lovely harpsichord), melodica, vocals and more all intertwining with each other. In someone else’s hands it could easily have come across as stiff and crowded, but here every instrument is given its proper amount of space to breathe, with an organic feeling of warmth that one just wants to sink into. Although some analogs can be made to ’70s era Robert Wyatt, Brian Wilson’s lush arrangements or Slapp Happy’s charming avant–pop, Herbertsson has done an impeccable job of distilling these influences into his own defined sound. From the production to the compositions, nothing about Ulrika feels modern, the entire affair sounding like it could have been released...