Dungen

4

[3.5/5]

They might not sing in English, they might release albums without bothering to tour on them (like last year’s Tio Bitar), and they might even call their fifth album 4, but none of that has stopped Swedish psych-folk-lounge-whathaveyou quartet Dungen from scoring themselves a respectable following here in the lower 48. This time around, bandleader Gustav Ejstes ditches his guitar to focus on the piano, making 4 decidedly loungier than its predecessors-even though “loungier” isn’t actually a word. Awash with sweet bass grooves, tastefully psychedelic guitar action and the occasional Indian tone (“Mina Damer Och Fasaner”), the album nonetheless maintains a mostly melancholy quality (maybe that’s the strings and, uh, flute), as if Ejstes was bummed about something mundane but had to tell you about it anyway. Maybe that’s why he swipes a melody from Tears For Fears’ “Head Over Heels” on “Der Tad Tid.” As if we wouldn’t notice. (KEMADO) J. Bennett