Youth Novels

Youth Novels is the debut studio album by Swedish singer and songwriter Lykke Li. It was released on 30 January 2008 on her own label, the EMI-distributed LL Recordings. The album was entirely produced by Björn Yttling of Swedish indie pop band Peter Bjorn and John and co-produced by Lasse Mårtén. Youth Novels spawned four singles: "Little Bit", "I'm Good, I'm Gone", "Breaking It Up" and "Tonight".

Youth Novels
Studio album by
Lykke Li
Released30 January 2008 (2008-01-30)
RecordedAtlantis Studio, Decibel Studios, Högalid Studio
(Stockholm, Sweden)
Genre
Length44:49
LabelLL EMI
Producer
Lykke Li chronology
Youth Novels
(2008)		 Wounded Rhymes
(2011)
Singles from Youth Novels
  1. "Little Bit"
    Released: 24 September 2007
  2. "I'm Good, I'm Gone"
    Released: 14 January 2008
  3. "Breaking It Up"
    Released: 5 May 2008
  4. "Tonight"
    Released: 18 August 2008

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic75/100[4]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
The A.V. ClubB[6]
Drowned in Sound8/10[7]
The Guardian[8]
NME8/10[9]
Pitchfork7.8/10[10]
PopMatters[11]
Rolling Stone[12]
Spin7/10[13]
The Times[14]

Youth Novels received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 75, based on 27 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[4] Alex Denney of Drowned in Sound praised the album as "a twinkle-toed debut that dares to suggest what others can only make tediously plain, and leaves us in the rarely-enjoyed position of actually wanting more."[7] PopMatters's Adrien Begrand called it "extraordinary" and described it as "a surprisingly stark-sounding album, an enticing blend of Robyn's unpretentious dance-pop and El Perro del Mar's introspection and tenderness."[11] The Times critic Tom Gatti noted that Yttling gave Youth Novels the same treatment as to Peter Bjorn and John's song "Young Folks", stating that he "[weaves] Lykke Li's girlish, wistful songs of young love and loss into bright pocket symphonies."[14]

In a review for The A.V. Club, Vadim Rizov characterised Youth Novels as "all teasing and heartbreak, with production [...] that plays on empty spaces as much as well-chosen backing", commending Li for "adeptly [straddling] the line between instant gratification and minimalist smarts."[6] Killian Fox of The Observer commented that "[t]he coquettish charm of [Li's] voice, tinged with shyness, is brilliantly offset by Björn Yttling's skeletal productions, which create great pop momentum out of the slightest effects", concluding, "The lyrics lack focus at times but this is a winning debut."[15] Greg Cochrane of the NME called the album "[s]imple but sensational".[9] K. Ross Hoffman of AllMusic wrote, "Brimming with ideas but understated, even tentative in executing them, and big on hooks but nervously intimate in presentation, Youth Novels is a curious, decidedly unorthodox but endearing record."[5]

Joe Gross of Spin stated that "[Li's] voice is mousy, the low end juicy, the melodies sketchy, the choruses huge", but found that "[s]he should lose the spoken-word bits, though; they don't even work for her goddess Madonna."[13] Tom Ewing of Pitchfork expressed, "At its frequent best, the record manages to sketch out widescreen hit songs with a remarkable economy of means. At its more occasional worst, the tracks feel frustratingly underthought."[10] Will Hermes of Rolling Stone felt that Li's "frosty squeak is a limited instrument, but she works it, mixing adorable playground scats with spoken-word whispers and parched coos that barely sketch her sugary melodies. The arrangements also dress simple tunes in surprising ways, with odd choral bits and percolating percussion webs that should tease movement from even reluctant hips."[12] The Guardian's Maddy Costa opined that the song "Tonight" "shows what she is capable of: underscored by a melancholy piano, she is darkly seductive", but "[a]fter that has passed, the album just gets increasingly cloying."[8]

Accolades

Youth Novels earned Li five nominations for the 2009 Swedish Grammis, including Album of the Year, Female Artist of the Year, Live Act of the Year, Composer of the Year (with Yttling) and Lyricist of the Year.[16] The same year, she won the P3 Guld award for Newcomer of the Year and was nominated for Pop Artist of the Year.[17]

Publication List Rank
Complex The 100 Best Albums of The Complex Decade[18] 54
Consequence of Sound The Top 100 Albums (2008)[19] 41
Drowned in Sound 50 Albums of 2008[20] 41
musicOMH Top 50 Best Albums of 2008[21] 30
NME Top 50 Albums of 2008[22] 44
Paste Top 50 Albums of 2008[23] 46
Pitchfork The 50 Best Albums of 2008[24] 45
PopMatters The Best Albums of 2008[25] 40
Q The 50 Best Albums of 2008[26] 37
Spin The 40 Best Albums of 2008[27] 36
The Times The 100 Best Pop Albums of the Noughties[28] 97
The Village Voice Pazz & Jop 2008[29] 81

Commercial performance

In Li's native Sweden, Youth Novels debuted and peaked at number three on the Swedish Albums Chart for the week of 7 February 2008, behind Johnny Logan & Friends' The Irish Connection and Van Morrison's Still on Top – The Greatest Hits.[30] It spent 20 non-consecutive weeks altogether on the chart, including four re-entries in 2008 and one on 30 January 2009.[31] The album charted for a sole week in both the United Kingdom and Ireland, reaching numbers 112 and 75, respectively.[32][33]

In continental Europe, Youth Novels reached number 36 in Norway, number 56 in Belgium, number 75 in the Netherlands and number 143 in France.[34] It also peaked at number 18 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers in the United States,[35] and at number seven on the ARIA Hitseekers chart in Australia.[36] As of April 2014, the album had sold 106,000 copies in the United States.[37]

Track listing

All music is composed by Lykke Li and Björn Yttling.

No.TitleLyricsLength
1."Melodies & Desires"
  • Li
  • Nils-Erik Sandberg
3:52
2."Dance, Dance, Dance"Li3:41
3."I'm Good, I'm Gone"
  • Li
  • Yttling
3:09
4."Let It Fall"Li2:42
5."My Love"Li4:36
6."Little Bit"Li4:33
7."Hanging High"Li4:07
8."This Trumpet in My Head"
  • Li
  • Sandberg
2:36
9."Complaint Department"Yttling4:32
10."Breaking It Up"Li3:41
11."Time Flies"Li3:21
12."Window Blues"
  • Li
  • Sandberg
3:59
International edition[5]
No.TitleLyricsLength
6."Tonight"Li4:13
7."Little Bit"Li4:33
8."Hanging High"Li4:07
9."This Trumpet in My Head"
  • Li
  • Sandberg
1:42
10."Complaint Department"Yttling4:32
11."Breaking It Up"Li3:41
12."Everybody but Me"Li3:18
13."Time Flies"Li3:21
14."Window Blues"
  • Li
  • Sandberg
3:59
iTunes Store special edition bonus tracks[38] (except DEN, FIN, ITA, JPN, NOR, POR, SWE, UK)
No.TitleLyricsLength
15."I'm Good, I'm Gone" (Black Kids Remix)
  • Li
  • Yttling
3:23
16."Little Bit" (CSS Remix)Li4:40
17."Everybody but Me" (DiskJokke Remix)Li7:31
iTunes Store deluxe edition bonus tracks[39] (except CAN, DEN, FIN, JPN, NOR, SPA, SWE, US)
No.TitleLyricsLength
15."I'm Good, I'm Gone" (Black Kids Remix)
  • Li
  • Yttling
3:23
16."Little Bit" (CSS Remix)Li4:40
17."Everybody but Me" (DiskJokke Remix)Li7:31
18."Little Bit" (music video) 3:51
19."I'm Good, I'm Gone" (music video) 3:10
20."Breaking It Up" (music video) 3:40

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Youth Novels.[40]

Musicians

  • Lykke Li – vocals
  • Björn Yttling – piano (tracks 1, 3, 7, 9–12); synthesizer (tracks 1, 3, 5, 9, 10); acoustic guitar (track 1–5, 7, 8, 12); celeste (tracks 1, 3, 7); vibraphone (track 1); backing vocals (tracks 2, 5, 10, 12); snare (track 2); electric bass (tracks 3, 5, 9, 10); percussion (tracks 3, 5, 6); drums (track 4); harpsichord (tracks 5, 7); string arrangement (tracks 5, 10); keyboards, mandolin (track 6); foot stomp (track 7); rocksichord (track 12)
  • Walter Sear – theremin (tracks 1, 9, 12)
  • Per "Ruskträsk" Johansson – saxophone (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5); flute (track 5)
  • John Eriksson – percussion (tracks 2, 3, 4, 9, 11); drums (tracks 2, 12); cymbal (track 6); Mellotron (track 11)
  • Lars Skoglund – drums (tracks 3, 5, 11); percussion (tracks 3, 9); hi-hat (track 10)
  • Mapei – backing vocals (tracks 3, 5, 9, 10)
  • Lissy Trullie – backing vocals (tracks 3, 5, 9, 10)
  • Johan "Zilverzurfarn" Zachrisson – acoustic guitar, foot stomp (track 4)
  • Dylan Von Wagner – backing vocals (track 5)
  • Peter Morén – backing vocals (tracks 5, 12)
  • Andreas Forsman – violin (tracks 5, 10)
  • Erik Arvinder – violin (tracks 5, 10)
  • Erik Holm – viola (tracks 5, 10)
  • Henrik Söderquist – cello (tracks 5, 10)
  • Markus Ollikainen – trumpet (track 8)
  • Neil Lipuma – tambourine (track 9)
  • The Suzan – backing vocals (track 10)
  • Lasse Mårtén – percussion (track 10)

Technical

  • Björn Yttling – production, recording, mixing
  • Lasse Mårtén – co-production, recording, additional recordings, mixing
  • Janne Hansson – recording
  • Matt Azzarto – additional recordings
  • Bil Emmons – additional recordings
  • Tommy Andersson – engineering assistance
  • Tom Gloady – engineering assistance
  • Neil Lipuma – engineering assistance
  • Henrik Jonsson – mastering

Artwork

  • Sandberg&Timonen – artwork
  • Marcus Palmqvist – photography

International edition
  • Björn Yttling – electric bass, piano (on "Tonight" and "Everybody but Me"); rocksichord, celeste, organ, percussion (on "Tonight"); flute, trumpet (on "Everybody but Me")
  • Lars Skoglund – cowbell (on "Tonight"); drums (on "Everybody but Me")
  • Per "Ruskträsk" Johansson – flute (on "Tonight")
  • John Eriksson – percussion (on "Everybody but Me")

Charts

Release history
Region Date Label Ref.
Sweden 30 January 2008 LL [45]
Ireland 6 June 2008 Atlantic [46]
United Kingdom 9 June 2008 [47]
Netherlands 15 August 2008 Warner [48]
United States 19 August 2008 Atlantic [49]
Australia 5 September 2008 Warner [50]
France 29 September 2008 [51]

References
  1. Monger, Timothy. "I Never Learn – Lykke Li". AllMusic. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  2. Liedel, Kevin (3 May 2014). "Lykke Li: I Never Learn". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  3. Marchese, David (10 January 2011). "EXCLUSIVE: New Lykke Li Song!". Spin. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  4. "Reviews for Youth Novels by Lykke Li". Metacritic. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
  5. Hoffman, K. Ross. "Youth Novels – Lykke Li". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  6. Rizov, Vadim (25 August 2008). "Lykke Li: Youth Novels". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  7. Denney, Alex (5 June 2008). "Lykke Li – Youth Novels". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
  8. Costa, Maddy (30 May 2008). "Lykke Li, Youth Novels". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  9. Cochrane, Greg (6 June 2008). "Lykke Li – Youth Novels". NME. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
  10. Ewing, Tom (3 June 2008). "Lykke Li: Youth Novels". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
  11. Begrand, Adrien (26 March 2008). "Lykke Li: Youth Novels". PopMatters. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  12. Hermes, Will (21 August 2008). "Youth Novels : Lykke Li". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 29 April 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
  13. Gross, Joe (18 August 2008). "Lykke Li, 'Youth Novels'". Spin. Archived from the original on 16 March 2011. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
  14. Gatti, Tom (7 June 2008). "Lykke Li: Youth Novels". The Times. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
  15. Fox, Killian (18 May 2008). "Reviews 11–25". The Observer. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  16. "De kan få en Grammis i år" [They can get a Grammis this year]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). 26 November 2008. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
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  18. "The 100 Best Albums of The Complex Decade". Complex. 2 April 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  19. Roffman, Michael (17 December 2008). "CoS Year-End Report: The Top 100 Albums: #50 – #26". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
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  28. "The 100 best pop albums of the Noughties". The Times. 21 November 2009. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  29. "Pazz+Jop 2008: Albums Winners". The Village Voice. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
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  36. "ARIA Hitseekers – Week Commencing 19th January 2009" (PDF). ARIA Charts (986): 21. 19 January 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
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