PETER MORÉN
The Last Tycoon

Having handily conquered the young folks in 2006, Peter Morén sets his sights on their parents with this coquettishly pretty, self-consciously retro solo debut. Morén, the leadoff hitter for whistling Swedish wonders Peter Bjorn And John, must’ve been bitten by a Jurassic-sized love bug at some point in the past two years. The Last Tycoon’s throwback folk/pop is moonstruck like Nic Cage circa 1987 and more purple than Jens Lekman at a librarians’ convention. Spoken straight into the camera, Morén’s randy come-ons are an odd match for his classically styled, Bert Jansch-meets-Burt Bacharach arrangements—often comically so. On the suave “Le Petit Coeur,” he begs for “my tribe ... to be part of what your tribe is busy planning”; on “This Is What I Came For,” he pleads for “a piece of that fat cake on display.” It’s hard to say whether he’s poking fun at capitalism or is simply horny: “Let me lick up the crumbs on the floor/And I swear I won’t weep any more.” Either way, for the love of god, just give the guy what he wants before any more desserts get hurt. [Quarterstick, www.quarterstickrecords.com]

—Noah Bonaparte Pais