Pelle Carlberg

Swede Pelle Carlberg has painted himself into a corner after two excellent solo records that epitomised everything good about clever indie pop with catchy songs and incredibly witty lyrics, typified by his tale of a bad review, "Go To Hell, Miss Rydell.” It really does feel like he has made the same album again with The Lilac Time but it’s hard to see that as a terrible thing because he does it very, very well. Like Jens Lekman, Carlberg focuses on his own experiences for his songs, such as the autobiographical "1983 (Pelle & Sebastian),” which also, unsurprisingly, pays tribute to the Scottish kings of twee. There are lots of jangle and clever words but ultimately, it is business as usual and there’s no new ground broken. Still, it could be a lot worse.