The Last Hurrah (!!) is the brainchild of Norwegian music producer and musician Hans Petter Gundersen who releases a fifth album with ‘Modern Nostalgia.’ HP and his wife Cecilie Leganger, plus guests such as Stein Inge Brækhus (drums), Nora Yuyue Zheng (guzheng), Andreas Nausdal (bass) and Mari Persen (violin) created new music primarily influenced by a shared nostalgia for 1960s French pop, film music, baroque pop and psychedelic folk.
HP’s handpicked choice of singers include fellow citizen Maria Due on several tracks, with Americans Tim Scott McConnell (aka Ledfoot), Foster Timms and Shane Alexander also on vocal duties. Side one is mostly dominated by European influences sung by singer/songwriter Maria Due whereas side two is more influenced by American music and utilises three different singer/ songwriters that HP really admired.
The album opens with `Civilized Wilderness` which is a dreamy emotional number that put me in mind of the recently departed actress and singer Jane Birkin. The song is the kind that you just want to bask in and Maria Due`s vocals have a delightful fragility about them. The use of a mellotron and strings adds a further dreaminess to the track. The use of strings, this time a guzheng (Chinese string instrument) played by Nora Yuyue Zheng and pedal steel by the Marty Rifkin adds a certain “je ne c’est quoi” to `Bonnie Michelle` a wonderfully soothing and lush submission.
`Time Heals Wounds` has a sort of country or Americana vibe at times with Mari Persen`s violin and again the guzheng adding to the overall ambience. The symbolism of the albatross is linked to hope, freedom, strength, wanderlust, and navigation and maybe `L’albatross` ticks all those boxes but sadly my French is pretty minimal and i`m afraid the lyrics shared in French were beyond me. Nevertheless it`s a minimal offering with a mellotron that gives it a delightfully sentimental feel.
Unfortunately `I Do Believe` is the last number with the delightfully rich and varied vocals of Maria Due and it`s a number that seems more akin to the sixties with a sense of romantic heartache. Åse Britt Jakobsen`s backing vocals added a further sense of melancholy. Side two begins with `Modern Nostalgia` a dreamy nigh of brief instrumental with a kind of vocal from HP shared in the latter stages. A piece that had an almost cinematic texture.
`Paradise` has Tim Scott McConnell who performs under the name of Ledfoot adding his vocals to this wistful composition and gave it a real sense of yearning. The guitar chords shared added an additional sense of tenderness. Musician/actor Foster Timms takes the lead vocals on the upbeat country/americana tinged `Dusty Road` a sort of ode to restlessness nigh on a road song which again has some haunting pedal steel guitar playing by Marty Rifkin.
`Internet Troll` came from an angry exchange that HP had on Facebook, of which he says that “the experience inspired me to write a song where the alter ego in the song is a notorious, malicious troll; a person who tries to come to terms with himself but lands on self-pitying self-righteousness.” It features award-winning US (but Norway based) ‘Gothic Blues’ musician Ledfoot on vocals which adds a subtle underlying reflective like touch to the song. Contemporary American singer-songwriter and musician Shane Alexander adds his vocals to the final number `Healing` a considered and contemplative track to end on. Camille Davila`s backing vocals really gel at the chorus.
‘Modern Nostalgia’ is a fairly compelling listen and our guide Hans Petter Gundersen takes us on a trip initially a meditative journey through harmonic retro French pop tinged numbers before leading us into a more cosmic Americana come Country trek. Tim Scott McConnell, Foster Timms and Shane Alexander flew the flag for our transatlantic cousins on the latter part of this release, but my word why is Maria Due unknown to me. A blend of Jane Birkin crossed with Sandy Denny and so much more with her honey rich tones. Also, the use of mellotron, guzheng and pedal steel, I have to say was a touch of genius.
‘Modern Nostalgia’ is an album to just sit back, relax, savor and wallow in with a satisfied grin on your face.
Rating 9 /10
REVIEW: THE LAST HURRAH (!!) – MODERN NOSTALGIA (2023)
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