Be Svendsen - Between a Smile and a Tear (2018)

When Be Svendsen dropped a teaser single for this long-awaited debut album last month, we commented that his productions are becoming far more mature, varied and musically detailed. "Between A Smile and a Tear" emphatically proves our point, shuffling between melodious, mid-tempo Balearic deep house ("Falling"), crackling, jazzy and folksy soundscapes (the brilliant title track), dub disco-influenced wonky synth-pop ("Drop The Gun"), Italo-disco revivalism ("Andromeda"), blissful ambient business (the delightful "Moments"), cosmic rock ("Hazy Eyes") and dewy-eyed, impressively impressive vocal numbers ("October Letters"). In other words, he's finally delivered the album he's been capable of for some time. Don't sleep.