On the Air: To Be Surprised

Sondre Lerche: To Be Surprised

[purchase studio version]

Norwegian artist Sondre Lerche is not exactly a household name. My first encounter with the man and his music was an appearance on the David Letterman Show a few years back. Following in a long tradition of late night TV talk shows, one of the better sections of Letterman's show is the regular musical offering at the end, sometimes introducing us to a musician we might not have otherwise been exposed to.

This performance was a breath of fresh air: a song that struck me as commercially viable - yet played with a style that felt off the beaten path. My interest piqued, it led me to locate a studio version of To Be Surprised, which further confirmed my positive impressions. Here was a musician whose live versions of his music were no less professional than his controlled, studio-crafted recordings. In several YouTube clips showing him in informal pre-concert appearances he came across as fun, down-to-earth, skilled and comfortable with his tools (his guitar, voice and lyric writing skills.) His musical genre has been described as lounge/folk/pop.

posted by KKafa