This came out in 2004 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
“Meet me halfway,” implores Sondre Lerche — and it seems only fair. After all, the Norwegian wunderkind certainly goes out of his way to please on this sophomore album.
Like his 2002 debut Faces Down, Two Way Monologue is a sterling catalog of gorgeously crafted, lushly arranged and impeccably presented orchestratal-pop and romantic balladry in the tradition of Rufus Wainwright and Ed Harcourt — although he’s a little less theatrical than the former and a little prettier than the latter. In fact, some of these songs could easily be too pretty for their own good, were it not for Lerche’s laconic, drily nasal vocals and some creatively quirky instrumental flourishes, all of which nicely offset all those shimmery melodies and silky backdrops. It doesn’t always come together perfectly, but when it does — like on the shape-shifting pop-rock of the title cut or the jazzy grooves of It’s Too Late — Lerche is way more than halfway to perfection.
