Big Stir Records proudly celebrates the November 11 release of RICHARD ÖHRN 's solo debut SOUNDS IN ENGLISH with the album's second single, “Take This Bottle.” It's out day-and-date with the CD and Streaming release, up for pre-order at bigstirrecords.bandcamp.com now, and streaming everywhere on the street date. The followup to the teaser single “Love And Friendship”, “Take This Bottle” is a ringing rocker, an instant singalong, and a slightly cantankerous calling out of toxic self-involvement that both contrasts with and complements the earlier single, hinting at the dazzling variety of classic pop styles on SOUNDS IN ENGLISH. Öhrn, previously best known for his guitar work and songwriting with Swedish indie-pop darlings IN DEED, has a hit record to call his own.

Soaring in on a choppy acoustic riff immediately joined by a chiming, descending lead line on Öhrn's trademark Burns electric 12-string, “Bottle” then hits the ground with striking harmonies and a withering lyrical brushoff, every last bit of which is worthy of Tom Petty at his best. “This is about sneaking away from someone who is killing you slowly by not quitting talking, not listening to anyone else, and telling you 'facts' you don’t know about yourself. I had a little Costello and Dylan in mind when recording the song, and the coda might be a little Springsteen too.” If those sound like lofty aims for a singer-songwriter for whom English is – as the album title reminds us – a second language after his native Swedish, early reviews of the album tell us that Öhrn has hit the mark, on this song and across the record's eclectic and deeply engrossing whole.

Musically, it's all Richard on this track, one of twelve he crafted in his countryside retreat outside Uppsala, Sweden over nearly a decade between other musical gigs. “Lots of guitars here, 12-strings and some distorted riffs, and of course the acoustic piano, an instrument that somehow seemed to sound different every time I used it for recording, even though I set the mics up the same way every time. It’s an old school piano, not full size. But trust me, I found it at a thrift store and tuned it myself... it’s a real piano!” And it shines (along with Richard's own drumming) on that lovely coda, taking the song into well-earned fadeout territory.

Already a late contender for Best of 2022 honors among critics on the global pop rock scene and one of a strong musical year's biggest surprises, SOUNDS IN ENGLISH contains still more charms. It needs to be heard in full for its scope to be appreciated, but the sweet chamber pop of “Love And Friendship” and the the jangle-rock rush of “Take This Bottle” serve as stylistic bookends. Between them? Sophisticated pop in the vein of The Hollies, The Zombies and Simon & Garfunkel. Jazz-inflected ballads. A country shuffle, passages of driving alt-rock, sharp songwriting across the boards, and hooks worthy of fellow Swedish pop rockers from Tages to ABBA to The Cardigans (and of course In Deed). On SOUNDS IN ENGLISH, Richard Öhrn more than earns his place in that company.