Meadow Music

Adna, nowadays based in Berlin, is on her way with her third album “Closure” and is tempting us with a single from the album. Here she enters a room with that special melancholic ambience which only belongs to her. And no matter how big the room is, it still feels intimate as we sit down beside her and in confidence listen to the reflections she invokes from her inner well. “Overthinking” is a build-up song which starts out quietly with only a picking guitar as company, but is gradually filled with vocal harmonies, beats and echoing toms. About the song she writes:

“I believe we all have a dark place inside of us, some more aware of it than others, and we all have our own way of dealing with it. I tried embracing mine, which led to finding a home within it, but also of course – the making of this record. “Overthinking” was written about a year ago in some kind of apathy state of mind, inspired by that time and all about the contrasts. “

Adna på Facebook – på Spotify – på Apple Music

I thought I should put some light on Lars Henrik Andersson’s album “Skaka liv” which was released earlier this Autumn. It was he who gave us a pop track in septuple meter in the beginning of the year and the album also offers a rich variation of playful rhythms. Well, not only that, most of the ingredients are characterized by musical imagination, variation and playfulness, from the sweet pop melodies to the arrangements with their surprising turnarounds and ideas and to the elegant word tinkering which even in the most serious moments can make you smile. Here are two tracks from the record:

Lars Henrik Andersson on Facebook – on Spotify – on Apple Music

The quartet Kriget, Christoffer Roth, Gustav Bendt, Per Nordmark and Mattias Franzén (new member), are on their way with a new EP, to be launched in the beginning of next year. Earlier they have released three full length albums and also an EP, “Fazed”, last year where they were accompanied by Sophia Somajo and Dida. It’s a band which seems constantly on the move so from the last year’s excellent EP, where they added vocals for the first time, we can probably expect something quite different now.

And the first taste, the single “Out Of The Fire Into The Sun”, also points in that direction. It’s a track that runs me over with punk hammering drums, intense pumping bass and saxophones that sweeps in like solar winds across the fast journey. I can’t help feeling some vibes of psychedelia, something like early Pink Floyd, in a shade of “Astronomy Domine”, when voices come in chanting the title. Otherwise it’s hard to put labels on their music, it’s both rock and electronica in a special symbiosis, so the best advice is to just jump on the ride and feel for yourself. Here’s also a spectacular music video, made by Marko Brandobanski, which may help set the mood.

Kriget on Facebook – on Spotify – on Apple Music

Hundmänniska is Lovisa Thurfjell’s new solo project. She comes from punk outfit Tiger Bell where she played the guitar and handled the lead vocals. She says that she thinks these new songs contain more pop compared to what she’s done before, but to me it’s still very much about rock when I listen to the first single “Res dig upp”. And it’s an unmasked, naked rock that feels in the gut as she squeezes out the last drops of sweat in the driving, energetic chorus. It’s music that gives me an energy kick, that kicks me in the butt and leaves a smile on my face at the same time. The song is the first one from her upcoming EP, and with this marvellous start I hope she don’t wait too long with more tracks.

Hundmänniska on Facebook – on Spotify – on Apple Music

The singer and producer Shaqdi, aka Madeleine Rönnberg, moved to London to develop her music further. There she met the producer Zagor and together they spent one year working on the EP “Lover”, which was finally released in September. And it shows because it’s a thoroughly worked-through album with strong tunes all seven of them, perfectly cut for Shaqdis sensual soul vocals. Here they have found their own blend of R&B, hiphop, soul and jazz in a laidback and at times seductive ambience. There’s a great variation that keeps my interest up through all the tracks, from catchy songs with strokes of ’90s R&B to jazzfunk influences to the finishing great hiphop-vibing track where the rapper Sway comes visiting. Here are two of my favourites.

Shaqdi on Facebook – on Spotify – on Apple Music – on Bandcamp

Zagor’s site – on Facebook – on Bandcamp