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Ronderlin
WAVE ANOTHER DAY GOODBYE
(HIDDEN AGENDA)

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Ronderlin are a wimpy (in the best sense of the word) Göteborg sextet who sing about "The Man with the Magpie," "Icy Fingers," and variations on rainy nights and one too many misty mornings. Although this Swedish band sigh and radiate sad-sack distress, they also make beautiful cathedral pop recalling the Smiths, the Cardigans, and Al Stewart (remember "Year of the Cat"?). Singer Kallie Graham is the Mr. Rogers of Swedish vocalists; with his whispered, soft-boy croon, he’d be beaten silly by the Hives or the Soundtrack of Our Lives. His voice is Ronderlin’s weak-kneed focal point; the band surround him with echoey, swelling guitars, smooth organ tones, and the usual strings and tinkling piano of chamber pop. Ronderlin are no lounge outfit; their music is frequently stirring and epic, eliciting smidgens of shock and awe as they scale mountains of bittersweet, grandly morose fluff. Each song is a lesson in orchestral pop, from the shimmy shake of "Sweet Nothings" to the crawlspace intimacy of "You Made Somebody Want You" to the Morrissey-styled grandstanding of the title track.

BY KEN MICALLEF

Issue Date: June 27 - July 3, 2003
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