| Slantmagazine |
 Andreas Kleerup has a sweet tooth for towering pillars of synthesized sound, most of which could have been lifted straight from hits by Erasure, Pet Shop Boys and especially Sunscreem, who's "Love U More" leapt out of my internal rolodex of one-hit wonders from the '90s more than once while listening to the Swedish electronic producer's eponymous debut. Kleerup is probably best known as the man behind the most exquisite track on Robyn's self-titled album, "With Every Heartbeat" (also included on Kleerup), and he recently contributed to Cyndi Lauper's collection of confessions on a dance floor, Bring Ya to the Brink, as well. Lauper's "Lay Me Down" makes a cameo here in the form of what is presumably its original incarnation, "Thank You for Nothing," but Lauper's contribution to her version of the song is increasingly evident and its inclusion would have tipped an already superb pop album into the category of near-flawless.
Pairing Nordic, perky-voiced songbirds with ice-capped Euro-house is a no-brainer and Keerlup's got the formula in spades: Swedish singer-songwriter Lykke Li, who, incidentally, sounds like she could be Lauper's daughter, is the chosen chanteuse for "Until We Bleed," while another Swede, Neneh Cherry's half-sister Titiyo, is featured on the electro-pop ballad "Long for Lullabies." These two tracks in particular aren't as immediately heartrending as "With Every Heartbeat," but they come close enough. Neneh herself, no stranger to trailblazing electronic music, guests on the socially conscious "Forever," on which the employ of a children's choir isn't as schmaltzy, contrived or cliché as you might expect. (Similarly, an alpine choral arrangement is used to dazzling effect on album opener "Hero.") Not unexpectedly, Kleerup's own vocals leave a lot to be desired, but there's something about his greenness on the mic—not to mention the vulnerability of his lyrics—that's endearing....full text |
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| Allmusic |
| Andreas Kleerup's first album as a solo artist/producer bears the mixed blessing of having had its lead single and standout track become a sizable international hit...for another artist. "With Every Heartbeat," known to U.K. listeners as a chart-conquering comeback smash for the highly deserving Robyn, was initially presented in Sweden as Kleerup's debut single, nearly a year and a half before the album's eventual release. The good news is that it still sounds as phenomenal as when it first began making waves in late 2006, perhaps even more so in this sympathetic context than tacked onto reshuffled re-releases of Robyn; if there's nothing else here that can touch its glorious heights, there's plenty that comes close, though admittedly by following very similar pathways. Kleerup can certainly be accused of repeating the same tricks over and over, but at least he has some remarkably effective (if not immensely distinctive) tricks — essentially, moderately paced and genially thumping robo-disco beats wedded to majestically buoyant chord progressions, played on synths that somehow manage to sound lush and punchy at the same time, with some bonus keyboard flutters for icing. And, of course, sweetly emotional pop melodies, often performed by female guest vocalists — this album has six, all Swedes, each of whom injects some of her own personality (they all co-wrote their contributions), which helps add some welcome variety to the proceedings. Hence Lykke Li's "Until We Bleed" is languid and forlorn and Neneh Cherry's "Forever" is R&B-inflected and vaguely sociopolitical (complete with a tastefully deployed children's choir), while Marit Bergman's "3AM," with its ABBA-esque circular melody and club-friendly electro glide, is the album's brightest, sprightliest moment. The several instrumentals — "Hero" and "Tower of Trellick" in particular — demonstrate that the same basic approach can be just as effective without the vocals, and "Thank You for Nothing," essentially the backing track from Cyndi Lauper's Kleerup-produced "Lay Me Down," is nearly as good even stripped of its melody. Finally, Kleerup saves one of the best vocal tracks for himself, the touching, treble-filtered pop of "On My Own Again," which takes a slightly different tack, piling on the acoustic guitars and vocodered harmonies....full text |
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| Pitchfork |
Before you waste any more precious eyeball moisture on this record review, stop and look at that face. Framed by stringy, grunge-rock hair, it's the face of Stockholm's Andreas Kleerup, already one of the most internationally successful players involved in Sweden's current reign as global pop incubator. Perhaps unlike, say, Robyn, Peter Bjorn and John, ex-Concretes singer Victoria Bergsman, or Jens Lekman, you probably don't recognize him-- by name or by face. All right, then. That's why they call this an introduction.
If you know Kleerup already, you probably first heard about him as producer of Robyn's 2006 single "With Every Heartbeat", an orchestral electropop ballad full of soulful melodies and the queasy emotional conflict of a breakup that hurts every bit as much as you know it's right. Re-released last year in the UK, the song went to the top of the charts, and the new U.S. single has done well on domestic dance and singles sales charts this year as well. After the Robyn coup came remixes for Shout Out Louds, the Concretes, and others, along with a collaboration on the latest Cyndi Lauper album (seriously)....full text |
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