Norwegian artist Thomas Dybdalh gives us his tenth album in more than twenty years of his career. This songwriter and excellent guitarist is a worthy descendant of Nick Drake, he could have chemistry with the British Ben Howard and we can easily imagine him improvising with “our” Daniel Lanois.
Despite his Scandinavian origins, he has always sung in English. You have to find Norway through its arrangements and certain texts.
Teenage Astronauts is one of his most introspective albums. With mostly acoustic guitars and a multitude of strings. And his high-pitched, gentle voice. The disc was made with the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra from Norway, it is produced by American bassist and producer Larry Klein (Joni Mitchell, Tracy Chapman, Herbie Hancock) with arrangements by composer Vince Mendoza.
It’s a special musical atmosphere for an album whose lyrics focus on male friendships, a subject rarely discussed in popular music. For Thomas Dybdahl, adolescents compare themselves to astronauts, who explore, float, and want to conquer. The song “All for a Girl” tells of the pain that a young man can experience when his best friend neglects him for the benefit of a lover.
His previous opus, Fever (2021), flirted with Rhythm & Blues and dance-pop. With Teenage Astronauts, we are on a completely different planet: a soaring and symphonic folk to listen to in a hot bath, in a Scandinavian sauna, or even lying in a park, when the heat returns. Thomas Dybdalh continues his own original folk trajectory.
