Måns Zelmerlöw – Stand By For …

Number of tracks: 14 (the acoustic version of Cara Mia is included as a “hidden track”)

Duration: 50:26

Best song: Dreaming 

Melodifestivalen bronze medalist and recent winner of the National Final Song Contest, Måns Zelmerlöw, has released his eagerly anticipated debut album. Among the contributors to the album Henrik Wikström, Fredrik Kempe, Niklas Edberger, Robin Mortensen Lynch, Niklas Olovson and Måns himself can be found.

Apart from the Melodifestivalen entry the best songs on the album are Dreaming which can be described as Cara Mia´s cheery sibling and the upcoming single Work of Art (Da Vinci) which is a contemporary and charming flirt with the musical styles of the 70s.

Unfortunately the rest of the album leaves a lot to be desired, both when it comes to the music and the lyrics. A majority of the songs are the kind that you can easily listen to on the radio but once they end you have as easily forgotten them.

The track The Prayer which was one of the best tracks on Danish ESC participant in 2005 Jakob Sveistrup´s second album Fragments is included here as well, but Måns´ interpretation of this fabulous song is oddly uninteresting - probably because he is not as good a vocalist as Jakob.

Another problem with Stand By For … is that it gives a somewhat unpersonal impression. Some of the songs sound a little like Robbie Williams while others lead the thoughts to Bono/U2, Pet Shop Boys and Alcazar. Hopefully Måns will develop a more personal sound on his next album.

Grade (0-5):

   

Stand By For … can be purchased at CDON.

Måns´ website can be found here.