Victoria Bergsman and Perfect Pop

Well, isn't this just a sweet little diddy of a cover? I love the way Swedish song-writer Victoria Bergsman, better known as Taken by Trees, pares down the song to a piano-lead pop core and tenderly adorns it with little else.

I'm not much for indie pop anymore, but Bergsman's former band the Concretes have always had a special little place in my heart. I'm not entirely sure why; I don't listen to either their self-titled 2003 album or 2006's In Colour anymore (the only Concretes albums I've ever had, both made made when Bergsman was still in the band). Maybe it's because I got into the Concretes during a particularly musically formative time in my life (late high school/first year university?), but moreso, I think it's because those Concretes albums contain some spectacular, perfectly-crafted pop songs. That is, because when the Concretes got indie pop right, they got it perfect.

I felt like when Victoria left the Concretes, the band's soul left with her; Hey Trouble, their first album after her departure, confirmed as much for me. Yet, I was never interested enough in the Concretes (or didn't have enough faith in Victoria Bergsman as a solo musician) to listen to Victoria's solo work as Taken by Trees. It was just a classic case of me always assuming solo efforts are just watered down versions of work musicians have done with their previous bands - an assumption I always make with complete awareness of its ridiculousness.

So, Victoria's Bergsman's cover of "Sweet Child O' Mine" proved I was correctly incorrect about Taken by Trees. And since I've found out Taken by Trees also covers Animal Collective's "My Girls" (with minor lyrical changes, including the song's title, which she calls "My Boys") and wrote an album in Pakistan featuring local musicians, I just might take a moment to see what else Victoria's been up to since the Concretes.