In the Autumn Joachim Dahlberg let us taste his record “Med blod som bläck” in advance on several occasions. The album was later released in the beginning of this year, and it’s an album that definitely deserves more attention. The theme of the album is a story about a father and his son, where each song represent an episode from their relation. It becomes a shifting and winding emotional journey which the band narrates with rock and sweet pop melodies in a beautiful production. There is a power and an intensity which grabs hold of you right from the start, in dynamic songs that can change fast between soft, intimate moments and grand-sounding, dramatic heights. Here are some songs from the album.

Joachim Dahlbergs Vindkraft’s site – on Facebook – on Spotify – on Apple Music

Stefan Leoson has emerged again after a couple of years of silence, as a recording artist at least. Now he calls himself just Leoson and has released the new single “Surrender”, which you can listen to here below. It’s a dramatic and bittersweet tune which grows to a strong rock hymn with a taste of artrock, hardrock and powerpop. And he certainly has the voice and the production skills to pull this off.

Leoson on Facebook – on Spotify – on Apple Music

The trio Nej, Mirella Hautala, Mimmi Skog and Björn Eriksson, say they are trying to recreate what is happening in the earth’s core. And on the single “Aldrig mer”, taken from the upcoming debut album (release May 11th), it feels like an obvious description. With two distorted bass guitars and drums as heavy as lead they break through earth’s crust and explode in a powerful cloud of magma and ashes, while the guest Carl Westholm’s keyboard sounds swirl around them like black smoke. It’s dark, chaotic and hard, which is underlined by the verses in Finnish, but also astonishingly beautiful. Whatever it is they are up against in the song, it better move aside.

Nej on Facebook – on Spotify – on Apple Music

I thought I’d have a peek inside of Georgia Barbershop’s garage and their second album, which was released earlier this year. It’s called “Borough In Twenty” and is just as splendidly rough and messy as the first song from the album “Blast Oyster” hinted, when I wrote about it a little more than a year ago. Here are two songs:

Georgia Barbershop on Facebook – on Spotify – on Apple Music

The duo Christian Wallin and Lasse “Jison” Johansson started their collaboration already 10 years ago, but it wasn’t until 2014 they started releasing their work. In between we’ve seen Wallin’s blistering guitars in Killer Clan of F.U.N. and Hothead, while Jison has provided the metal band Stonelake with bass grooves .

Their first new recording was released in the Autumn as the album “Guilt” and less than half a year later the follow-up “The Black Sheep of the Family” was launched. This is quite some distance from heavy metal, instead they go back to their roots and serve us a blues-infused roots-rock’n’roll. The straight-on three chord tunes often have a downscaled sound, without sounding retro, it’s a razor sharp production. They play with different rhytms in each song and create a smooth pulse and a laidback vibe, making it easy to just sit back and float along with the music. It’s probably perfect for a relaxing car ride. It’s music which is drenched with classical riffs and phrases where they add their own spices in a restrained way and still make it taste unique and fresh. Here are a couple of tracks from the album.

Wallin-Jison on Facebook – on Spotify – on Apple Music