Photo by Johan Rosenberg

Behind the artist name Noras Falcon we find Elin Rosenberg, a 26 year old singer/songwriter, who recently released her debut EP, the four songs strong “The Spark”. And it is a strong EP; full of beautiful, airy pop with strong melodies, and which sometimes draws in some Americana/country-influences. And she has quite an interesting voice too, maybe somewhere between Kate Bush and Lycke Li, if you drew a curved line between these two. Listen to two of the songs here below.

Noras Falcon on Facebook – on Spotify – on Wimp – on Soundcloud

Douglas Unger released his second full length album this Spring, “Old News”, seven years after his debut in 2006. If we’re talking genre we land in country rock and American rock land, with representatives like Ryan Adams and Wilco, but I’m also reminded of other icons like Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits and Bruce Cockburn. I think it’s a fine, fully enjoyable album where Douglas makes his personal mark in these well-trodden grounds. The sound is great: close, earthy and dirty, like if we we’re listening to him in a small club, and his voice, which has both ardour and authority, is like it’s made to live out in this music. Definitely one of the best efforts I’ve heard in the genre in the last years.

Douglas Unger’s site – on Facebook – on Spotify – on Wimp – on Soundcloud

I haven’t written about the Swedish singer/songwriter Lars Bygdén before, an oversight I of course have to correct. Because if you have created a wonderful album such as his Americana-vibing “LB” from last year, you certainly deserve to be heard. During Spring he also released a video to the album’s starting track, “The Hole”.

It’s a rather varied record with naked acoustic songs to country to songs with a more melodic pop touch, but everything’s glued nicely together with a pleasant, releaxed and warm melancholy, where you can land in a slower tempo, safely guided by Lars’ calm, somewhat sad voice. Enjoyable. Taste here below in a couple of songs.

Lars Bygdéns hemsida – på Facebook – på Spotify – på Wimp

High Coast, a band hailing from Malmö, released their debut EP recently. On it you’ll find four tracks with earthy, Americana-vibing acoustic music full of nature poetry. “Talvatis”, the song here below, was earlier released as a single, and got it’s name from a lake in the north of Sweden.

High Coast on Facebook – on Spotify – on Bandcamp

Mikael Persson has played in different bands during thirty years, but it took until 2011 before he released his solo debut album “Moving With Mrs. Carter”. After a couple of  EP:s he’s now out with the follow-up album “Marks & Bleeds”, an album where he has invited guests as songwriters and musicians like Greg Copeland, Janni Littlepage, Luisa Jordan-Killoran, Citizen K among others.

It’s a rather varied record which revolves around country rock and Americana and Mikael’s dark, laidback and expressive vocals. There’s quite a few excursions with other influences too; I can hear Irish folk vibes, nice power pop-like choruses, the Dire Straits-sounding “St. James’ Park” and a beautiful cover of Yazoo’s “Only You” to name a few. There’s plenty of guitar candy on the album as well as a great sense of sticky melodies, which you have two good examples of here below. The album is available on Spotify and on Wimp.

Some 50 Roads
Man With Hound By His Cottage