NEW CREATION - Sing Out My Soul (Hemmets Härold, 1970)

English vocals
International relevance: **

Little did I know that one day, a Pelle Karlsson album would get high up on my 'must hear' list.

Some background info:

Pelle Karlsson was an unbelievably popular Christian singer in Sweden in the mid 70's. His popularity reached far beyond the religious circuit when he had a smash hit of unexpected magnitude with his version of Elvis Presley's "There Goes My Everything", transformed into a song of religious praise and devotion as "Han är min sång och min glädje". In 1973 and the years to come, he was everywhere, doing television performances and getting frequent radio plays like any secular artist. The album sold in impressive amounts, but Karlsson was a reluctant star. As a matter of fact, he hesitated to even record it, thinking he should go all in as a pastor, preaching to his likeminded on the Pentecoastal Church scene. But fate -- or God if that's your inclination -- obviously had other plans for him.

Which means that now, as the era of Jesus music as we know it is long gone, you see his breakthrough album in every flea market and charity shop all over Sweden. There are in fact so many of them that you'd be honestly surprised if you walk into a junk shop with only five crappy albums on offer and Karlsson's album isn't one of them. This in turn has led to a peculiar cult among crate diggers with a particular sense of humour: When you find the album (lovingly nicknamed "Pelle's green one" due to the cover art's background colour) in a charity shop, front the album, i.e. put each copy you find in the very front of each record crate. Thus you can easily tell if a 'fronter' has been there before you.

There's even a short radio documentary (in Swedish) made about the album itself and the odd phenomenon it later initiated.

I doubt that very few people too young to have experienced Pellemania partaking in this tongue-in-cheek cult has even heard the album. And most of us who indeed are old enough usually try to ignore that we did. Not that Pelle Karlsson was a bad singer. True he wasn't the most pitch-perfect singer ever, and true his vibrato might be just a little bit over-developed, but he was in possession of a sonorous voice with a wee bit of Elvis in it. It's just that the whole thing has become a standing joke and, well, you just don't listen to his albums. That's 'albums', in plural, because he released several before retreating to congregational activities which is still his primary occupation.

So, Pelle Karlsson is not someone you put on your want list.

But -

As the third volume of compilation series "Who Will Buy These Wonderful Evils" was released in the mid 00's, "He Is There" by New Creation featured on the album rose to admiration. All for a good reason -- "He Is There" is simply one of the most impressive psych tracks to emerge out of Sweden, ever. I know for a fact that my jaw wasn't the only to drop with a loud 'thud' when I heard it for the first time. My jaw was seriously disjointed once I learnt that the singer in this obscure band was one Per-Olof "Pelle" Karlsson.

I've been on the hunt for the album from which it - "Sing Out My Soul" was taken from ever since. People have found it in charity shops for next to nothing, but I'm not one of them. It's kept eluding me, slowly turning into a fixation: I'VE GOT TO HEAR IT! I was expecting heaven (after all, chances were somehow good for that...) but was prepared to be disappointed (because most Christian albums are crap, especially if they're Swedish). No way the album as a whole could possibly match the stunning grandeur of the doomy organ-laced "He Is There" with a fuzz guitar solo to knock buildings into dust.

And so, thanks to a friend of this blog, the album finally came my way. The waiting was over. The kingdom of the Lord was at hand.

But let's be frank: "He Is There" is in a league of its own. No other track here comes even close in mood, intensity and characteristics. The second best track is "I Surrender All", with surges of wah wah and soulful vocals. It's also notable for its blatant theft from Pugh Rogefeldt's "Här kommer natten" released on Pugh's groundbreaking debut album "Ja dä ä dä" a year earlier -- check that guitar line at the end!

The remainder of "Sing Out My Soul" ranges from the passable to the s. Among the better of the lesser songs is the title track, a relaxed blues gospel with some more Elvis inspired singing from Karlsson to a nice laidback beat. "Amen" is the old familiar song popularized by Curtis Mayfield-led Impressions in the early 60's, here in a version with psychedelic aspirations but not as developed as it should have been to really make a memorable impression. "I Know A Place" is a heartfelt ballad that too could have pushed it further but is held back by the somewhat restrained group effort. "Calvary" in turn is a surprising Christianization of "Yesterday" (yes, The Beatles song) and counts among the LP's weaker tracks.

The whole album has an appealing garage-like sound and several good intentions but it's generally kept down by the unnecessarily cautious band supporting him. My overall impression is that "Sing Out My Soul" is a missed opportunity. It could have been so much better had it been a little bit more in your face. It's better than any of Karlsson's solo albums but it lacks the final push to make it great. If you find it cheap, it's worth a go for "He Is There" and the rather nice album cover, but don't expect too much of the rest.

New Creation had another album out on Prim Records in 1971, "Jerusalem", this time with Swedish lyrics, plus another one (also in Swedish) credited to Pelle Karlsson in 1972, "Till alla" on the Signatur imprint. The latter one is mostly remembered for the title track that features some comically unskilled sitar playing.

Full album playlist