One Track Mind: Thomas Dybdahl, “This Love Is Here To Stay” (2014)

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A bewitching, crepuscular journey into a the deepest kind of fragility, “This Love Is Here To Stay” sounds like that quiet voice that comes in the darkest part of night.

And, it’s suddenly coming at you from every direction — be that the House of Lies television series on Showtime, a series of concert appearances, or (as Thomas Dybdahl’s album became a charttopper in his native Norway) a passing automobile.

There’s a reason for that. This Nick Drake-ish song gets in your blood, in your mind, in your heart. Dybdahl, at one point, even admits that he’s so turned around within his swirling passions that he can’t be sure of his own name. All of this unfolds over an off-kilter cadence that perfectly mimics a heart’s flutter, and a few other well-placed instruments that appear as nothing more than ghostly presences.

Larry Klein, perhaps best known initially for his work with Joni Mitchell, handled production duties for Dybdahl. “This Love Is Here To Stay” is part of What’s Left is Forever, due on May 6, 2014 in the U.S. via Strange Cargo/Manhattan Records. Dybdahl hit the states after a smash European tour, with a series of LA appearances set for May.

Nick DeRiso