Review Summary: Loopified: twisting pop music and defying musical definitions!
Since 2010 Dirty Loops have been releasing music through Soundcloud and Youtube, crafting their trademark pop-jazz fusion sound by covering pop stars in the lines of Britney Spears and Justin Bieber. The musical creativity invested in the reharmonization of pop classics serves as evidence of the incredible musicianship of the band. This comes to no surprise since all members of Dirty Loops have been schooled in the Royal College of Music in Sweden.
The album opens with the energetic song “Hit Me” which serves as a great introduction to the band's fusion style. The song is the perfect example of great musicianship fitted within a pop framework. The first thing that one can notice is Nilsson’s peculiar approach to vocalization and phrasing, which fits perfectly within the album. His high pitch vocals and jumpy arrangements are really fun to listen to, but they will surely polarize the public opinion of his vocal qualities and might discourage some listeners to continue exploring the rest of the album. The song’s lyrics are light hearted and at times funny, touching a subject which everyone can relate to: that awful feeling of not getting an answer when calling that person you love.
The album contains a few songs like “Sexy Girls” or “Die for you” which have a stronger Techno quality to them and could be easily remixed to be played in the club. These songs however, fall into a weird musical in-between place. It’s a place where songs are either too Techno for the Jazz enthusiast, or just too Jazzy for the Techno fans. If one keeps his musical boundaries open though, these Techno infused songs will make for great live performances that will surely set you and the crowd on fire!
A very interesting fact about the band is the lack of a guitar player, which doesn't at all hinder the album’s musical quality. This allows bassist Henrik Linder to have more room to develop his lead bass guitar style. He plays tasteful melodies that land in the front end of the song and demonstrates his technical abilities with graceful solos throughout the album.
Musically, the songs in this album are great to say the least. For this reason, the addition of 4 covers remains a mystery to me. Surely the covers are responsible for the bands quick rise to fame. But adding covers to an album gives the impression that the artist ran out of creative ideas, something that I’m sure did not happen during the writing sessions.
In conclusion, the album can appeal to both experienced and occasional listeners. The Techno beats and Nilsson’s flexible voice add a nice color to the music that might appeal to the pop listener while the complex chord progressions and tasteful solos might appeal to the experienced musician. After being delighted by this Swedish Jazz Trio, one can only hope for an amazing follow up album in the near future.
