They tried to run from it. Lead singer Peter Morén buried himself in his solo album, The Last Tycoon. Björn Yttling claimed he was “busy” producing other artists, including Lykke Li, Sahara Hotnights, The Feeling, and Primal Scream. Hell, they even thought they’d float a low-key and mostly instrumental (and mostly terrible) album, Seaside Rock, out there and see whether or not anyone noticed that, you know, they were the same band responsible for... you know, that song.

But finally, it caught up with them. That’s right, ladies and gentlemen. The Sweedish trio cannot hide any longer, and the time has come for Peter Bjorn and John to... sigh, follow up... to follow up... “Young Folks.”

Yeah, I know. You’re sitting there thinking, “Oh fuck.” And rightfully so. It’s hard to believe, but it has been two years since Sweden’s Peter Bjorn and John subversively sauntered onto the world MOR stage with the seemingly never-ending success of that unfathomable anti-song. “Young Folks” was a sheer anomaly. A song so annoyingly anti-catchy that it became the catchiest damn thing on the face of the planet; that fucking song became a global smash and was almost certainly DIRECTLY and SOLELY RESPONSIBLE for “PB+J” (as they came to be annoyingly referred by young urban professionals in suits everywhere) blowing-the-proverbial-fuck-up and performing to sold out venues and late-night TV talk shows all across America and beyond. This fucking song was even named "Track Of The Year" by iTunes; oh, and don’t forget how it, you know, casually popped-up in countless movies and TV shows until you were about ready to shoot yourself. Oh, and remember how SEVERAL cover versions then appeared in not only English, but also Spanish and Japanese? And then how, because of “Young Folks,” Writer’s Block ended up earning an absurdly prominent spot in the upper reaches of the general music press’ often-dubious year-ennd polls, with the ever-so-classy Paste magazine even declaring, “PB+J give us even more reason to love the Swedes”?? Yeah??? Remember all that stuff, do you?!?

Well, me too. And so does everyone else. And so do they, I bet. So here we are: New album. Living Thing. Almost Gold Recordings/StarTime International record label. March 31, 2009. Produced by the band and Lars Mårtén. There was a bunch more press-release hype, but yeah, I just went ahead and deleted it. Best of luck, guys.

Living Thing tracklist:

1. The Feeling
2. It Don’t Move Me
3. Just the Past
4. Nothing to Worry About
5. I’m Losing My Mind
6. Living Thing
7. I Want You!
8. Lay It Down
9. Stay This Way
10. Blue Period Picasso
11. 4 Out Of 5
12. Last Night