THE PRESS ABOUT SLEEPYHEAD:
The smorgesbord experience: a pop album made with a light touch by the man from Vienna and his Scandinavian friends.
On his debut album WE ARE ALL GOLD, Florian Horwath formulated subtle nuances, the melodies of the songs by the Vienna native shone like moonlight, the songs took breathtaking curves, the artist took risks. In 2008 as well, Horwarth is not embarrassed to include sha-la-la and saxophone on his pop creation. He builds a folk song up into an orchestral arrangement ("The Great Destroyer"), he transforms a piece of vibraphone jazz into a Bollywood party ("Trailerpark"). Because everything has a light touch and is played and sung by good friends from Sweden (incl. Magnus Sveningsson and Nina Persson from The Cardigans), SLEEPYHEAD is never in danger of losing its style and attitude. The album doesn’t become just another Cardigans album for this very reason, the thirteen songs bring over something of the joy of this connection which reaches far beyond the recording studio. The smorgesbord experience with the chorus invented for it: "We Are All From Scandinavia".
Frank Sawatzki/ Musikexpress
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Florian Horwath has discovered a harbour in which he can be well-protected from the storm. After a long journey from post-electroclash with Grom, over conceptual art with the fashion designer Frank Leder who uses materials from his natural habitat, over a slightly weak-chested first songwriter album, he has now arrived here.
He is the new Jackson Browne (early years). Lavishly instrumented laid-back songs with plenty of southern veranda feeling force their way into the heart of a 1970s romanticism that could still be made to sound even more plush. With a Scandinavian band (and a duet with Nina Persson on the magnificent cuddly ballad "Baby You Got Me Wrong", better than "Baker Street" from Gerry Rafferty, almost as good as "Sad Eyes" by Bruce Springsteen), he recorded a dozen songs in a barn in Sweden, over which always seems to be soaring: the world is going mad, therefore we walk all over it. Acrobats, jugglers, just like in a Fellini film. [...]
DE:BUG
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It’s not easy to categorize Florian Horwath. On the one hand, you could quite simply call the Vienna native a "pop solo artist": he has a singular vision for his music, and allows his songs to shine in bright light, many colours and rich orchestration. On the other hand, the label "singer-songwriter" seems reasonable: deeply felt passion, emotion and pain are hidden behind the wonderful simplicity of the arrangements of his songs. Let’s agree on this:
SLEEPYHEAD is a quite splendid pop album. [...]
Stefan Weber/ gmx.net
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"Sleepyhead" is even better, even more beautiful and magical than his debut.
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You will not hear a much more beautiful, heart and soul-warming pop album in 2008.
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No one else sounds as wondrous and animated as he does. When his magical, fragile voice, meets his beautiful fragile melodies, particular and actually not especially well-polished lines come flashing up like a brightly shining star and you are irresistibly drawn in. The high art of pop. The first single pre-release "Baby You Got Me Wrong", an intoxicating duet with Cardigans’ singer Nina Persson, is already a contender for "song of the year" and a potential hit that touches every heart - in a nicer world, this feel-good package would be heard on the radio and be at Number 1 on every iPod’s favourite song list. [...]
Klaus Winninger/NOW
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Florian Horwath’s works are justifiably described as hug music. Soaring, soft sounds predominate, with which artists such as Get Well Soon currently play into the hearts of every dreamy indie listener. Not only due to the contributions from the musicians Magnus Sveningsson (bass player and co-founder of The Cardigans) and Christoffer Lundquist (Roxette) does this album sound like an import from Sweden. “We are all from Scandinavia” sings Horwath, and points towards the musical relationship with Jens Lekmann & co. Sleepyhead is a melancholy boy. [...] Sleepyhead is a fully composed Sunday morning hug that makes you feel like turning over and going back to sleep so you can carrying on dreaming. However, instead of getting breakfast in bed, you’re told a couple of really personal stories, and then you sometimes start to think, a little less tearful would be OK too. Not all the tracks are as convincing as the wonderfully fragile Because I love you, which could also come from the current Naked Lunch album.
Katharina Litschauer/ justmag.net
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Florian Horwath does everything out of passion. He is a father, DJ, fashion designer - and a gifted songwriter, as his new album "Sleepyhead" proves.
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Horwath doesn’t believe in gods of songwriting who need to be softened up before they’ll show mercy. He is his own inner demon, who draws out magical melodies such as "Baby You got Me Wrong", "The River" or "Dad You Have Faith In Me, And Yes I love You". The new album has several big goose-pimple moments; however, on "Dad..." the most intense is to be found. "So I sell my soul to the devil/ So I sell my soul to the sea/ So I sell my soul to the devil/ And the devil is me" sings Horwath here in his gentle, fragile falsetto.
Sebastian Fasthuber/ Falter
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