Phantom punch – «Oh What A Blow That Phantom Dealt Me!» Cooking Vinyl

Firdaposten (Florø) reviews the album Oh What A Blow That Phantom Dealt Me! on 10 March 2007 under the heading “Phantom punch”, as the successor to the “fine” Elegy For Johnny Cash of 2005. This time it was made in somewhat safer surroundings than its predecessor, which was recorded in Beirut of all places – showing that Leven simply does what suits him.

Musically Leven is more blues-based than the reviewer has heard him, mixed with the usual touches of pop, jazz and soul and topped by his voice: “This is unmistakably Leven.” The lyrics are as usual of a quality far above average, dealing with things he experienced on tours around Europe, including a train journey from Oslo to Bergen – not the first time Bergen figures in his lyrics: “I think he likes it there.” He also does not shy away from singing about artists more obscure than himself; this time he pays tribute to Judee Sill and Kevin Coyne. Overall the record stays at the standard one has come to expect.

The reviewer also tells how Leven’s girlfriend, some years ago, wanted to introduce him to the hostess of a rather smart gathering where he was to perform as the Scottish edition of Van Morrison; the answer was, “Who is Van Morrison?” And he recalls talking to Leven after a concert in Førde three years earlier. Asked when the four Doll by Doll albums of the seventies and eighties would come out on CD, Leven joked that the label was probably waiting for him to die so that interest would rise. “But now all four are coming out on 26 March. About time.”