A Finnish tango legend and some fascinating Swedish indie artists sounds like an unlikely combination at first. It all started last year when the Finnish artist and songwriter Pentti Viherluoto would have celebrated his 100th birthday. His grandchild Tatu Metsätähti came up with the idea of recording Penttis old songs in new, modern versions and as many of the songs already had been translated to Swedish (by the actor Thure Wahlroos) he contacted his friend, the producer and artist Henrik von Euler. Henrik got involved and together with Billie Lindahl (Promise and the Monster), Rickard Jäverling and Pelle Lindroth (Parken) he started recording. One song led to another and they ended up with an entire album named “Skymningsland”, which is going to be released this November.
The first song “Grändens skymning” is an appetizer which definitely makes me interested in more. It’s a track where they blend the two worlds with synths and tremolo guitars that wrap us in a harsh, Finnish melancholy, a drum machine echoing of the last beats from the old dance floor and dreamy, longing vocals which turn into a warm duet. Listen for yourself here below.
I should add also that the original Finnish lyrics, to this song and the others on the album, were written by Pentti’s brother Aimo.
Niklas Gottfridsson Jeng calls himself LAS as an artist, and recently he released his debut single “Ta över världen”. With this new and fun music video interpretation it all turns into a great mix of humour and seriousness, perfectly coloured by his natural way of delivering the rhymes. It’s a personal style without exaggerations, but with a sweet nuanced flow which breathes life into the words.
Anna Jadéus is on her way with her third solo album and has today released this video, “Vi vet ingenting”, as a first taste of the record. She writes that it’s about the “eternal balance between hope and despair in a world where one has to fight for the right to love whoever you want to love”. And this tension which appears between dreams and distress certainly shows and makes its way right to the heart as she fills every word with an emotional subtext. There’s a large palette of feelings here and also questions hanging in the air. There’s a will to fight, there’s sadness, but also hope and love. An urgent voice in a time where we still frustratingly are asking ourselves how it’s possible to hate love.
Elias had a breakthrough in the beginning of this year when he impressed us with his soul voice in the powerful song “Revolution“. Now he’s released his debut EP “Warcry”, an EP which most likely will earn him even more admirers. Here is the new single “Green Eyes” taken from the EP.
Last year Vita Bergen released their debut EP, which gave them quite some well-deserved attention. Three of the songs from the EP are also present on their first album “Disconnection”, released a week ago. When they showed us one of the new songs in Spring, “Alexia“, I thought it felt like they were going in a somewhat new direction towards a darker and rawer sound. Where they were heading becomes very clear when I listen to the starting track of the album, the postpunk-sounding, dystopic “In the City”, a song with an intensely pumping bass and cruel guitars where the synths have moved into the background. The strong, earlier songs “Disconnection” and “”Curtains” form the hit backbone on the album together with the new “Closer Away”, but are now placed in the right environment, where it feels like they have washed away the sweetness and replaced it with an unpolished blackness. Having said that there are plenty of graceful beauty in the songs, in the melodies and in grandiose soundscapes, sometimes closing in on the bombastic. A varied and enjoyable album.
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Author Archives: Pär
