Lost Friends And Newfound Habits finds Doctors & Dealers integrating more orchestration into their songwriting. The last album, Confessions Of A Drunken Mind, for the most part, lacked multiple instruments and instead focused efforts on simplicity. After all, Doctors & Dealers is one woman, Sparrow, who is, as she puts it, sometimes with friends, sometimes without.

The progression is immense: sure, Confessions Of A Drunken Mind had great moments, but Lost Friends And Newfound Habits is on a whole new level. Songs like “The Odds Are On Our Side” (featuring Jamey Huggins of Of Montreal) and opening track “On The Dancefloor” have a special sound that compliments Sparrow’s early work but demonstrates vast improvement.

That’s pretty much what you can expect from Lost Friends And Newfound Habits; a full progression from twee-based folk-pop to the same sans much of the folk. There’s a lot going on here, a lot more than can be garnered from just a few listens, and Doctors & Dealers proves their growing stature in the expanse of great Swedish pop.

Doctors & Dealers: The Odds Are On Our Side [mp3]

Doctors & Dealers: On The Dancefloor [mp3]

Bluesong Records [CD, 2009]

1. On The Dancefloor
2. The Butterfly Effect
3. He Went Down
4. The Odds Are On Our Side
5. Rock ‘N’ Roll Dream
6. How Many Hours Can A Cat Stay Asleep?
7. Sunday Morning
8. Allison
9. Airport Blues
10. Cold War
11. He Said That I Was Crazy
12. A Phonecall Home
13. Just Another Feeling
14. I Finally Found It