The Virtues

Here’s a new Friday collection with new singles, after a rather sporadic blog week. Rock is the common denominator this time.

The Virtues – “Let the Fish Spawn”

The Virtues are back with their fresh seventies rock sound, here in the single “Let the Fish Spawn”, taken from the compilation album “Yesteryears”. With four full length records in their backpack they also celebrate their ten years anniversary as a band this year.

The Grand Trick – “The Daily Dose”

The rock band The Grand Trick have been working with the producer Beau Hill (Ratt, Warrant, Alice Cooper, Bob Dylan among others), who created a mix of the the song “The Daily Dose”. I think he really nailed this song, a song which was released in a different version last year, and is now being released as a single. It comes out as a dense rock track with a great drive and with vibes from the American nineties as well as a hint of the seventies.

Rideau – “Stand Still”

Now it’s a bit heavier rock with Rideu and their debut single “Stand Still”. They’ve created quite an interesting sound with their own mix of metal, stoner rock and hardcore. The band was formed by Gabriel Öberg and Carl Magnus Palm after the breakup of InSekt and are working on their debut album right now.

LGCY – “Noises”

I’ll finish with some indie rock from the band LGCY, who released this debut single, “Noises” in January.

Hyper Heart, whom I’ve written about before a few times, are releasing a new single today, “Running”. The title track is a beautiful ballad with a romantic slow dance ambience, which makes me think of Spandau Ballet, even if they don’t quite sound like them. There’s a fine mix of concert piano, strings and synths and drum machines which makes it sound special. The second track “Lovers” is an instrumental one, quite filmic, which builds slowly towards a grand finale.

Hyper Heart’s site – on Facebook – on Spotify – on Soundcloud – on Rara

Rebstar

It’s Friday and the end of the week, so I thought I’d gather some news from this week I haven’t had the time to present yet. Here’s some more great music:

Stilett – debut album

Stilett is the name of a new punk band formed by Adam Nilsson from Tysta Mari and Crippe Määtä from Bombshell Rocks. Joined by Thomas Åberg (Twopointeight) and Inge Johansson (International Noise Conspiracy) they have released their debut album today. Here’s a taste of it:

Hurula – “Sluta deppa mig”

Robert Hurula, former front man in Masshysteri, is now going solo and have recorded an album to be released later in Spring.”Sluta deppa mig” is the first single from the record:

The Bland – “Changes”

I called the former street musicians The Bland’s folk and Americana-inspired music irresistable, the last time I wrote (called The Bland Band then) about them. And I still think it is when I listen to their new single “Changes”, which you can listen to here below. The song adverts their debut album “Strangers on the Side of the Street” which will be released next Friday.

Rebstar – “Simple”

Here’s some hip hop from Malmö, from the artist Rebstar. He released this single “Simple” this week, which is the first one from his upcoming album, which will be his third full length album.

Century of Ecstasy – “The City Of You”

Century of Ecstasy calls himself lo-fi-artist and shows us what he means by that on the debut single “The City Of You”, released yesterday. It’s a beautiful, soft piano ballad with a sound that could have been inspired by John Lennon from the early seventies.

It’s been five years since I wrote about Slowmotion Club, hailing from Malmö, but after a séjour in the eminent Sound of Wool they are now back with new material in the shape of a two-track single. It’s a darker Slowmotion Club we hear now, and with a sound that more belong to indie rock than Americana. I get quite a few Manic Street Preachers-vibes overall and in the first song “The Presidential Dilemma” the psychadelia era feels close in the verses, especially when it comes to the psychadelia Jefferson Airplane played in the sixties. Well, it’s two great songs and an excellent comeback for the band.

Slowmotion Club’s site – on Facebook – on Spotify – on Wimp – on Bandcamp

We stick to the ballads a little while longer, this time with a new single from Alexia Enberg, “For You”. With her lovely voice she delivers a verse that breathes classic film rock ballad, which ends up in a  grand pop chorus.

Alexia Enberg on Facebook – on Soundcloud