Pitchfork

Peter Bjorn & John member Peter Morén sang some of the most open-hearted songs on the Swedish trio's hit-spawning 2006 LP Writer's Block, including "Paris 2004", "Objects of My Affection", and (appreciative whistle) "Young Folks". It took me a few listens to the album and probably some Googling to learn that, though, so from the outset it's notable how familiar and distinctive Morén's voice-- a Nordic-accented but John Lennon-esque tenor rasp-- sounds on "Social Competence", the first single from his forthcoming solo debut, The Last Tycoon. Like the previously posted "Le Petite Coeur", "Social Competence" is folksier and more solemn than Morén's PB&J song-wiches, starting with some filigreed acoustic guitar fingerpicking and those reverbed vocals. Lyrically, there's a bit of the emotional outpouring of Lennon's own Plastic Ono Band album, only Morén's opening up about his anti-social instincts rather than, say, his mummy's death or his non-belief in Zimmerman: "You just want to hear your voice make that noise/ Leave me out of it." A full line-up of piano, bass, drums, harmonica, and handclaps eventually builds the song out closer to the dimensions of the singer's day job, but so far it sounds like, as you'd probably expect, a more personal affair.