Peter Morén @ Schubas Saturday

Peter Morén—more familiarly known as the Peter in Peter, Bjorn & John—recently released his impressive debut album, The Last Tycoon, and is about hit the road all by his lonesome. Recorded in apartments and living rooms over the past two years, Tycoon’s initial spark began with what would become its centerpiece, “Le Petit Cour.” “I brought that to the band, but we had different ideas of how we wanted to play it,” explains Morén before defiantly adding, “for the first time I wasn’t ready to compromise. The way it sounds now is how I heard it in my head: strings, rim shots, pianos, vocal in the center; a melancholic chanson feel.”

There is a distinct and gripping melancholy running through the record, even on the poppier tracks such as “Social Competence,” which Morén describes as “a PBJ song gone astray.” “I also wanted to stretch out a bit lyrically [with] longer, wordier songs,” he notes. “It was important to let lyrics and vocals take center stage. That was part of the reason I made this album.” Indeed, when you take into consideration the insanely catchy whistled hook of PB&J’s surprise hit “Young Folks,” you could probably get away with singing about the best way to clean gutters and no one would say a peep. But true to his word, the vocals are front and center on Tycoon. Take opener “Reel Too Real,” which Morén explains is a song “about me as a teenager, doing the obligatory military service test,” adding the by-the-way addendum, “which I happily failed.” It features a hilarious scene whereupon our protagonist laments his bus ride companions: “The guy who slept over me / Couldn’t keep his hands away from his tiny friend / It was a bumpy ride.” Instead of getting lost in the whistles, we actually care about the storytelling aspect of the music.

Morén will be playing Schubas on Saturday, April 26, and he’s bringing along fellow Swede and co-producer Tobias Froberg to do double duty as opener and bandmate. Morén will also have Doug Marvin of Dirty On Purpose to help fill out the sound. “I like Chicago a lot, the little I’ve seen of it. I’m afraid I mix it up in my head with Seattle a bit though.” Morén then adds, “There’s some nice parading to be done by the water, I think?” - Bob Nanna