Youth Novels
| Youth Novels | ||||
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| Studio album by Lykke Li | ||||
| Released | 30 January 2008 | |||
| Recorded | Atlantis Studio, Decibel Studios, Högalid Studio (, Sweden) |
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| Genre | ||||
| Length | 44:49 | |||
| Label | LL | |||
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| Lykke Li chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Youth Novels | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 75/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| The A.V. Club | B |
| Drowned in Sound | 8/10 |
| The Guardian | |
| NME | 8/10 |
| Pitchfork | 7.8/10 |
| PopMatters |   |
| Rolling Stone |  |
| Spin | 7/10 |
| The Times | |
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 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". 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."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."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."
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." 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." Greg Cochrane of the NME called the album "[s]imple but sensational". 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."
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