The duo The Loveable Tulips consists of Pia Påltoft and Pernilla Axerup. They have started a collaboration with the  producer Jari Haapalainen and together they have forged a grand sound with choirs and tempting pop melodies as a foundation.

If I would try to describe it I’d say that it feels like a mix of Bananarama, ABBA and Phil Spector with a small dose of Enya. Listen for yourself in a couple of tracks here below.

You can find The Loveable Tulips on Myspace (at this very moment, the page doesn’t seem to work though) and on Facebook.

I Am Just a Heart

Fortune Favours the Brave:

The 26th of November Lena Malmborg will release her third album, “Paris to Berlin”, produced by Mats Björke (Mando Diao).

If the earlier albums felt country-inspired and soul- and blues-inspired respectively, this album is moving more in a pop direction, with some eighties vibes in some songs. She says that she also took some time to listen to gospel before the recordings, which can be felt sometimes.

Guests on the album are Carl Norén (Sugarplum Fairy) and Elin Sigvardson.

Read more on Lena Malmborg’s site and on Myspace.

Don’t Be Scared

Today it’s electronica with some pop intentions with the Swedish-Spanish duo Posttod.

I don’t know that much about them aside from that they produce a quite a spectra of laidback, mainly instrumental electronica. You can listen to one of their latest tracks here below, “Dead In the Universe”.

There is a video to the song also, but it’s in fact an outtake from a short movie by Spike Jonze, “I’m Here”. You can judge for yourself if you like the original soundtrack the best or Posttod’s version.

Listen to more songs on Posttod’s Soundcloud page. You’ll also find them on Myspace.

Dead In the Universe

“Dead In the Universe”, “I’m Here”-version:

Talking about voices that moves into new areas, I thought it would be a nice idea to present Karl Buhre’s solo project Ocean Beach.

Normally you can find Karl Buhre in the band Alouatta, which I wrote about a while ago here on the blog. It’s a big leap between Alouatta’s frenetic, punky rock to this singer-songwriter music, which brings us back to the early seventies in the company of CSN&Y and Joni Mitchell. He present a couple of great compositions, which you can listen to on Ocean Beach’s Myspace page.

About Alouatta, I’ve been told that they are in the studio now, recording new tracks for upcoming releases, and an album debut is being planned, a project that goes by the name “Run Tiger, Run”.

After the recordings Karl will again concentrate on Ocean Beach, and is hinting that the musical direction may change a bit. Here’s “Summer Trail”:

Summer Trail

I find it interesting to listen to voices in completely new contexts. If it’s a skilled singer he usually manages to produce new layers of emotions that you couldn’t feel in the other genre. It’s like viewing a person from a new angle, the entire picture changes and becomes more complete, and this also affects the way you listen to the former work.

I’ve written about Makkan Johansson and his band Saigon Sickness before, and he has moved here from an alternative, darker rock to americana, as the singer in the band The Medicine Show. It’s about well-trodden paths which moves from country rock to a more rootsy american folk and country.

And they do this really well. Makkan shows a different register and personality here, and the band delivers a row of inviting melodies and songs.
I’ve been listening to their debut album, which is not out yet though, and if you like to be updated about this, you can follow the band on Facebook or on Myspace. Here are two songs from the album:

Paper Love (The Tide Will Turn)
Happy When I’m Drinking