Lindstrøm
Everyone Else Is a Stranger
SMALLTOWN SUPERSOUND
Norwegian producer Hans-Peter Lindstrøm returns with his sixth album as Lindstrøm, Everyone Else Is a Stranger, and the first solo venture since 2019’s On a Clear Day I Can See You Forever. The title is taken from John Cassavetes’ Love Streams, and all four tracks show Lindstrøm in his de facto mode: a space-disco explorer lost in the groove. The new release is closer to the widescreen collaborations we’ve heard from Lindstrøm in the past with like-minded producers such as Todd Terje, Prins Thomas, and Todd Rundgren. With the exception of the cool-down closing title track, each song charges at you with immediate energy and melody.
Everyone Else Is a Stranger finds the veteran electronic artist jettisoning his slow-orbit jams of the past for propulsive beats and a lighter production mix, both closer to the sounds heard in live settings. Opening track “Syreen” sets the joyful and dancey tone as it pulls each element forward in a strong current of sound. A sprinkling of live percussion, acoustic guitars, drum-machines, congas, timbales, and flutes gives each song a playful energy.
“Nightswim,” defined by hard-charging hi-hats, begins with an alien disco liftoff sequence before settling into its groove, and “The Rind” doubles down on the space-disco aesthetic even more as it swirls into the heavens backed by a delightful series of free-falling ’70s synthesizers. A free-ranging piano joins up with the synths later in the song, and that’s when the beat really lifts off. The title track ends the four-song album by releasing the tension and high-stakes synth dramas that came before it on the tracklist.
“Everyone Else Is a Stranger” is not quite as impactful as the three tracks that came before it, but when taken as a whole this fast-paced album keeps the Lindstrøm style firmly attached to the subgenre of space disco. Beyond collaborator Todd Terje, no modern artist can really outdo Lindstrøm when he’s firmly planted in this lane—his songs still possess a gravitational pull unlike any other in his field.
