'Youth Novels' is the debut album from Swedish singer songwriter Lykke Li. Produced and recorded by Peter, Bjorn And John's Bjorn Yttling, the album's mix of simple electro and quirky indie pop sits perfectly below Li's breathy, pixie-like vocals and has seen her compared to Iceland's biggest export, Bjork. The singles 'Breaking It Up' and 'Little Bit' are included.

May 2008

Swedish indie pop artist Lykke Li Zachrisson (better known as Lykke Li) grabbed the attention of bloggers the world over in the early 2000s with a handful of catchy and genuinely impressive retro-chic singles made available on her MySpace profile.

• CMJ - "[S]he churns out bright electro-pop at one moment, and then turns around and pumps out tracks full of live instrumentation and delicately soulful crooning at another."
• Rolling Stone (p.86) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[M]ixing adorable playground scats with spoken-word whispers and parched coos....The arrangements also dress simple tunes in surprising ways, with odd choral bits and percolating percussion webs..."
  Spin (p.118) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he approach proves bulletproof: Her voice is mousy, the low end juicy, the melodies sketchy, the choruses huge."
  Spin (p.47) - Ranked #36 in Spin's "40 Best Albums Of 2008" -- "[T]he steely passion is pure Lykke Li -- this is her proclamation of absolute fidelity."
  Magnet (p.110) - "'Dance Dance Dance' is driven by a basic acoustic-guitar rhythm, a chugging horn section, minimal percussion and found sounds..."
  Global Rhythm (Publication) (p.48) - "Whether she's waxing intimate and vulnerable on the echo-washed piano ballad 'Melodies & Desires,' or rocking out on the oddly new-wavish 'Breaking It Up,' Li is adding a fresh voice to a growing collective of homegrown Swedish talent..."
  Blender (Magazine) (p.82) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "'My Love' blooms from a simple Spanish guitar into a cymbal-crashing Phil Spector grandeur, and the funereal closer, 'Window Blue,' reveals the sultry timbres of her voice."
  Paste (magazine) (p.71) - "[D]eterminedly diverse....[YOUTH NOVELS] marries inventive dance rhythms to confessional songwriting....With Li finding cathartic joy in the simple act of making music."