Broken Swenglish, Vol. 2

One third of the long-running trio Peter Bjorn and John, Peter Morén spends his down time recording more albums on his own. In the early part of the 2010s he released two fine albums in his native Sweden, 2010's I Spåren Av Tåren and 2012's Pyramiden, both sung entirely in Swedish and both featuring the kind of sprightly, perfectly constructed pop he's known for. In 2013 he released Broken Swenglish, Vol. 1, an EP of songs taken from both the LPs, only with the lyrics sung in English this time. He planned a second edition to be released soon after, but lost some of the music thanks to computer issues and had to spend some time re-recording some missing string parts. The wait was worth it, because this is another sterling example of Morén's mastery of pop music and its offshoots. Whether jumping through Northern soul-inspired songs like "The Pyramid," emoting smoothly on late-night ballads like "Hit Where It Hurts," or giving an advanced class in Swedish pop on "Esther," Morén does everything exactly right. Sung in Swedish or English, these songs are worth hearing whether you're a fan of PB and J or just great pop music in general.