There’s no doubt that Järnmalm have their roots in punk rock. And they present a nice Ebba Grön-punk in tracks like “Nu” from the EP “Ur Gruvan”, but overall they walk their own path. Hard rock comes into the picture as well as Swedish progg and there is an underlying Swedish melacholic feeling, which they like to relate to.

The songs are fascinating as they have unexpected elements which they interweave in an interesting way.  “Aldrig Där” is such a song, where a horror movie theme-melody carries the song. Forms into a really good hook.

In 2009 the demo CD “Trasdockor” was released, in spring the EP “Ur gruvan” was available and now recently in August the follow-up, “Till omvärlden”. Listen more on Spotify or visit their site or their Myspace page.

Here are two songs from “Ur gruvan” and a song from “Till omvärlden” (the last one):

Nu
Aldrig där
Vaggvisa för en rastlös själ

Even if Jesper Norda has named his latest album “April Archives Collection No 1” I feel that it was perfect for me to get into his music now, in the beginning of the autumn. Beutiful, safe, a little lonely, disquieting, calm but yet dramatic.

The first track “Tomorrow You’ll Be Forgiven…” is magic to me. A Satie-sounding minimalistic piano figure, a simple, but beautiful song melody, Jesper’s dark, low-voiced vocals and “…but tomorrow you will have your teeth knocked out” which feels just like a hit right in the solarpexus, in the middle of the warm safe ambience.

“April Archives Collection No 1” is a compilation of three of Jesper Norda’s earlier EP:s, 12 songs with only Jesper and his piano and sometimes a simple drum machine. No excesses, as simple as possible, but it never gets uninteresting. The melodies are not revolutionizing but set inside my head, both from the vocals and the piano figures. I hear David Sylvain, Leonard Cohen, Roger Waters in different contexts, but in the end his own unique character.

You can find Jesper Norda on his site or on Myspace. You can also listen on Spotify.

Tomorrow you´ll be forgiven but tonight you will have your teeth knocked out
Lets go to a place infected with truth and resist with all our hearts

Another Nation’s National Anthem, hailing from Stockholm was formed already in 2002 and this spring they released their first official singel, “Save Them From Sorrow”, containing three tracks.

They get their Influences from the nineties alternative grand pop and rock scene, shoegaze and post-rock, and also from contemporary bands like The Arcade Fire, Explosions In the Sky and The National.

You can find Another Nation’s National Anthem on Myspace and on Facebook.

Save Them From Sorrow
Thundercars

Last week Chris Michols Band released their first official album, “Scar Trek”. Two years ago Chris Michols solo released the album “The Long Road”, only digitally, which was downloaded more than 100 000 times on different sites. Parts of that album was later released officially on the EP Fade In in 2009.

The new album continues where the former albums left us, with singer/songwriter with a postgrunge feeling, strong melodies and of course Chris special voice in the foreground. But it contains much more than this. The melodies are there, the hooks, and the postgrunge vibes too, but these vibes have left more and more space for other influences, like folk music, the sixties and indie rock, which is all nicely blended with the rest.

If you’re already a fan you will recognize Chris Michols, but at the same time experience a more varied, strong album. Listen more on Chris Michols Band’s site. Here are two tracks from “Scar Trek”:

Killer
Loser

That the songwriting and sound of Ellinor Skagegård & 5th Season is influenced by Joni Mitchell and Carole King is noticed. It’s a nice mix of pop, ballads and folk music where Ellinor’s voice in the front is warm, delicate and with a certain feeling of musical.

In the beginning of this summer they released the 13-track debut album “First Time”, which you can listen to on Spotify. You can also meet Ellinor & 5th Season on Myspace.

Here are a couple of songs from “First Time”:

Why Does a Good Thing Have to End
First Time