Album Discussion: Scandinavia by MLTR

In June/July, or summer in short, the Danish soft rock/pop band, Michael Learns To Rock, sometimes known as MLTR, released their ninth studio album, Scandinavia. They were, of course, back by popular demand, as their last album, Eternity, was released as long as four years ago, back in 2008.

To tell the truth, I wasn’t a fan in 2008. In fact, I’m quite sure that I had never even heard of them before. But everything changed—it’s true, I’m not exaggerating—when my dad passed his Colours CD to me in, if I’m not wrong, 2009. Since then, I was hooked. I was completely in love with MLTR, and that was why I (shamelessly) asked for their new album for my birthday album this year.

Of course, I wasn’t disappointed. The album was all I could have expected—the familiar soft ballads, slightly more upbeat songs, and even a Wild Women-esque rock song. It wasn’t just the music aspect of it, either—the lyrics have a whole new feel to them—while still retaining the band’s symbolic sound—which is what I’m going to focus on in this discussion, with the exception of some side notes to the music, as, of course, you can’t avoid that in songs!

What struck me most about this album is the motif of space in a few songs. In the fourth track, Heaven Is My Alibi, the symbols of space and stars are used very charmingly. To be honest, I still haven’t figured out just what exactly the title means yet, but that doesn’t change the fact that the song and its lyrics are simply magical. I can’t help but feel that there is an interesting story behind the words, which inspired my first piece in Stories of Songs. This idea of space is more extensively used in the third song, Space Commander, where the speaker compares his relationship with the woman to a journey through space, to another world (“We descend into a magic world, under the purple sky”—this is so lovely it will definitely inspire more writings on my part), and she is his space commander; he seems perfectly willing to have her call the shots. You can feel how much of a crazy, enjoyable ride their love is, which reminds me of You Keep Me Running from Colours. 

Related to space, stars are also brought up in another song, albeit more briefly. In Please Forgive Me, it goes: “A heavy shadow in the light, Daddy’s slipping out of sight, leaving more than just a broken heart, leaving more than just one question for the stars”. I may be over-analysing here, but I think that the involvement of stars in this serves as something of a hyperbole, making the matter at hand more profound. In my opinion, that’s what this motif of space and stars does in the other songs—it engages something that is, to us, more romantic, and beautifies the scenario by giving it a sense of mystique. There’s also another brief reference in Hanging On: “We are lovers beneath the stars, kissing the universe above.” This probably contributes to that aforementioned understanding—that the elements of nature, especially those to do with the heavens, are larger than ourselves, providing a grandeur to the depicted romance.

Well, that’s the larger picture. To zoom in, Renovate My Life is a song whose lyrics I admire greatly. The whole song is a huge metaphor, in which the speaker compares his life to a house, and he asks someone—I don’t know why, but I’m getting the vibe that it’s a woman—to make his life better (“Renovate my life, make it all right, show me that the trees can grow into the skies”). The release is special, too: “I wanna hear empty talking as meaningful poetry, I wanna see aimless walking as another way to be free. Living upon the surface, making you wanna feel some inner space”. The way I interpret it, he’s “demanding some [more] sense to the meaning of life” (if you don’t know, that’s a quote from another song, Crazy World). He’s musing about the deeper meanings of life, and he’s searching for ways to live his life more fully.

There is one song you definitely cannot miss out on in the album—the more rock-style Shanghaid In Tokyo. Isn’t the title just special in itself? When I first heard it during their concert in KL, I thought it was about touring the nations, but I was wrong (fortunately). It’s about the speaker searching for a girl, who’s, I think, just out of his reach, but he’s willing to “keep on travelling, to ease a restless soul”. Many other fans have said that this song resembles Wild Women, and I can see where they’re coming from, with Mikkel’s rocker guitar intro and Kare’s strong drumming. The lyrics, though, written by Mikkel and Marcus Winther-John, are thematically different from the Colours song. The only similarity I see is that they stray a little bit from their usual sensitive-guy-feel, having a more action-based romance (“The whole world is spinning as I’m passing through”). Also, the use of locations around the world is simply charming. On a side note, the way this song is sung by Jascha is really refreshing—he meets the strong music with his identifiable mellow vibe, and we’re reminded that this isn’t just a rock song, it’s MLTR.

And who can forget the titular song, Scandinavia? It’s beautiful song, with lovely lyrics to match the album cover of northern lights. The guys sound delightfully grounded in this one: “You make us wonderful” for one, and “We played a show with great routine, so many places we have seen; and sometimes you wonder, was it just a dream?" Then they sing of flying home to their “little mermaid in Copenhagen”, back to the place where they belong. Seriously, it’s just amazing.

It’s a very special song that I will use to sum up my opinion of the entire album—it’s fresh, but familiar. They’ve definitely never had a song dedicated to their “ould sod” before, but the tune of the song, as well as the style of the lyrics, is soothing and familiar. When we fans hear this song, we’ll no doubt smile and say, “yes, that’s MLTR,” because this is the sound that we know and love. Like I’ve said before, MLTR shouldn’t be defined by other examples, they are a wonder unto themselves, and isn’t their sincerity what we adore? When I went to their concert, Jascha said something I liked: “You know, we’re often criticised for playing slow songs. Well, here’s our slowest one.” (They proceeded to perform Breaking My Heart, which does always break my heart.)

This elegance of sound that I speak of is echoed in the other songs. In Any Way You Want It, there’s a uniquely simple, yet eloquent feel to the words, as is the case in Please Forgive Me. The latter is rather sad, really, and I feel the same love of a father in Crazy World, although that seems to be less on his daughter than of the turbulent, uncertain world we live in, and the insecurity of the lives we lead, although he commends his daughter for being a strong, independent woman. Make Me Feel has a great opening verse: “the sun meets the ocean, extending the shadows, speaking in bold”, while Icebreaker complements it with the poetic lines of “the sea around me is frozen, show me where I can sail.” (Another song about a strong woman in his life.) I won’t say too much about that, as sorely tempted as I am—because if I share every thought I’ve had about these songs, this will continue for ages, and I’ve written much more than I thought I would already.

Well, that’s everything. At first I thought I’d only mention the songs that have struck me the most, but then I realised—honestly—that I love all the songs equally, and there’s no way I could leave any out. Some of them, though, I have more to talk about. Overall, however, I’d say that there is a common thread—although an obscure one—running through the different tracks. It’s that there’s something new to be discovered in life and in love, that there are explorations and subsequent discoveries to be made. It’s as if the underlying message here, intentional or not, is that there is a deeper meaning in certain things, life at large, I’d venture to say, that we need to appreciate, be it by quieting down to feel it—Heaven Is My Alibi—or actively seeking it—Shanghaid In Tokyo. Sometimes, we’d even find it somewhere or in something familiar. I’ll leave you to re-listen to the album and ponder that.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this, and please do leave a comment to share your own thoughts about the album. Please follow my blog as well if you’d like to read more from me! (*shameless advertising*) If I’ve gotten anything wrong, I do sincerely apologise, and you guys are welcome to correct me in anything. Finally, I’d like to end off by urging you to buy their new album, if you haven’t already done so. Better yet, if you’ve never heard MLTR—gasp, travesty!—this is a pretty awesome way to start. 

This should be obvious, but MLTR, I love you guys.