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A brief history of a full life:
Peter Morén was born and raised in a little village named Vika
in a region of Sweden called Dalarna. At the time, Dalarna was
a landscape full of horses, mopeds, ski slopes and ice hockey,
but not much music. What little music there was consisted
of heavy metal or traditional fiddle-based folk music, both
of which had strong followings. Guided by his grandfather’s
tastes, Peter took to the latter – until he picked up his mother’s
out-of-tune guitar at the age of 10 to learn a few basic chords
with the express aim of writing pop songs in English. Although
his English was fairly rudimentary, he quickly progressed,
taking cues from influences such as The Beatles, Byrds,
Beach Boys, Kinks, and, for the sake of modernity, The
Housemartins and A-Ha (this was 1986 after all). Soon after,
he became a Dylanhead, bought a harmonica, and started
performing covers at pizzerias and parties to the bewilderment
of the local populace, who often wondered why such a young
boy was interested in playing such old songs.
At 15, Peter moved south to attend high school in Västerås.
Influenced by Ride, Teenage Fanclub, Stone Roses and other
groups of that era, he formed a band with another new arrival
in town, Björn Yttling. Later, they moved to Stockholm, where
they met a drummer named John Eriksson. The rest, as they
say, is history. After a long struggle in the musical trenches,
three albums, loads of gigs, and numerous stints at the
university and various day jobs, Peter Bjorn And John finally
met well-deserved success with Writer’s Block.

Yet, as a solo artist, Peter’s pen has never rested. He’s always
writing songs- too many songs to fit inside the scope of just one
band with three songwriters. So, in his spare time he recorded
his new solo album - The Last Tycoon. In a way this is a
throwback to his early days playing pizzerias with his acoustic
guitar. The album is stripped down (Peter plays most of the
instruments himself), and although there are certainly melodic
pop songs, the album feeds more from a folk and singer-
songwriter tradition than the eclecticism prevalent on PBJ’s
recordings. These songs came together at different times as
well, which adds to the timeless allure of The Last Tycoon:
old songs finally finding their proper place, others written
during Writer’s Block, and some coming even later. Although
the direction this time around was low-key, the album still
leaves plenty of room for strings, synthesizers, a musical saw,
vibraphones, percussion, and even a drum machine or two.
Musically, the album shares some kinship with Paul Simon,
Tim Hardin, Bert Jansch, Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, Yo La Tengo,
Leonard Cohen, Brian Eno, John Cale, Caetano Veloso, Robyn
Hitchcock and The Go-Betweens – to name a few.
The lyrics are reminiscent of past efforts, although more
personal, filled with observations of everyday life, its problems
and resolutions; memories of childhood are mixed with a
sense of fulfillment, and the ever-present confusion that
follows as we move through later stages of life – or, in Peter’s
words, “The usual lyrical psychobabble, but with a direct and
honest approach.”
The album’s title comes from the Elia Kazan film of the same
name – an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s unfinished final
novel. The film, like the novel, deals with failure: a failed
attempt to live the American dream, basically. The film’s main
character is married to his work, which leaves him unable to
lead any form of romantic life. The film takes place at the end
of the era where talkies began to supplant silent film.
Peter doesn’t fancy himself a magnate or anything, nor is this
a concept album. Rather, as Peter himself says, “We – that
is, people working in the music business – are also living at
the end of an era, as new forms of making and manufacturing
music emerge. In these times, I sometimes feel out of place
and old-fashioned, as my music tends to be. Also, one has
to admit that the idea of failure is enticing. In the long term,
success stories are boring. Flaws and mistakes are far more
interesting, both personally and professionally. Failure may be
the mother of all creativity and new solutions. Of course, we
all want to be successful, but, as Emily Dickinson once said,
‘Success is counted sweetest by those who never succeed. To
comprehend a nectar requires sorest need.’”
Well, tycoon or not, failure or success, Peter’s made a
record that’s beautiful and full of soul – and it’s waiting for
the world to listen.

Musical Styles

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