Text by music journalist Johan Scherwin from the album release in 2005:

"IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS RIDDLE includes exclusively original music and lyrics by Jeanette Lindström, apart from one contribution from lyricist Marshall Glover ("When things get real").

This is an album that once again proves that she never hesitates to move on and explore new ground. As always, Jeanette Lindström sings with a voice that vibrates with the strength of a tigress, the yearnings of a young woman and the fervor of a mature woman. Or in other words: a voice with light, air and a bit of mustiness to it.

On “In The Middle Of This Riddle”, she and her musicians have created and multifaceted atmosphere where the frail and the strong melt together just below the boiling point. Tones from a piano and an electric guitar fluctuate and linger through most of the songs; behind them, a bass and drums throb with an ease that leaves room for airiness without compromising the pulse. And every now and then a trumpet comes to the front; on occasion she is alone with a piano or a collection of strings.



The songs are like a journey between feelings and expressions, yet they are still bound together like different entranceways into the same underlying atmosphere. Following the melodies are lyrics that underscore life’s ups and downs with a few choice words. She starts off with the equally captivating as it is soul-funky “Always”, continues the voyage with the rapidly pulsating “From This Tower”, then takes the tempo down in the fluctuating minimalism of “The World”, to next arrive at a naked meditative state in “You Could Rely On Me”.

After the sense of loss in the self-revealing “End”, she moves on to exultant, cacophonic blue skies in “Going Up”, she sways in a pleasing, waltz-jazz tempo in “Here” and proves herself to be a full-fledged singer-songwriter in “Leaf”. Time and again, her musicians paint an expansive panorama. For Jeanette Lindström doesn’t allow the total focus to be centered on herself, she leaves room for her musicians in solos that either develop or change, but constantly push on ahead."