Today I’m opening the blog for the season. It turned into a quite heavy start with the chocking news this morning about the death of David Bowie. It’s an artist whose music been a part of me all through my life, and who was tremendously important to me as an identity-seeking teenager. A light in the dark in many ways.
This post is about Magnus Bergman and Saga Björling’s new song “Natten”, though, a song which had its premiere in full today. I wrote about the project about a month ago as they presented the first part of the more than 13 minute long song. It’s a track in three parts, which comes out as a walk through the darkness of our world with a lamp in hand, anxiously seeking for a way out. It’s powerful and immensely beautiful when Magnus secure voice unites with Saga’s wonderful, bright vocals.
As I wrote before, the song project also consists of a video which has been created by the film makers at Anno 800 in Falun. They took the mission to create a visual interpretation of the song, which resulted in this creative film, an animated collage of thoughts which takes you through the song.
Here’s a song from the trio Artymove which is a bit different from how they normally sound. It’s a naked ballad with only Mathilda Lindgren’s vocals and a piano. And they master this as well, and Mathilda shows what a wonderful soul voice she has. The song is a first sample of their next album, which is due for release in the beginning of 2016.
The inspiration for the song came from Mathilda’s work with human rights in Palestina/Israel and is an urge to start making a difference here and now for a better world.
Here’s another singer I’d like to listen to more often. It’s Freja Blomberg from the duo The Lola O who shows herself in some new songs from the duo. Here are two of them.
Here’s the debut single from singer/songwriter Stina Rebelius, “Luftslott”. An interesting debut in a great production signed Henrik Skanfors from Rainmode.
Here’s a single from an artist called Joy’s Apartment. The song “Joy” is a taste of an EP that is going to be released in January. The video below is created by the stop motion collective Don’t Stop the Motion, who made this in a fascinating way combining modern technology and good old handicraft. There’s an interesting video about how they made the film.
Time for this year’s post with Christmas songs. Here’s a collection of new songs where you might find some to add to your Christmas playlist you spin every year. Merry Christmas!
The last time we heard from Chirping was last year with the single “Ambitions”. I’m happy to see now that they have recorded a new EP during the Autumn, which they will release in the beginning of next year. They serve us a Christmas song as a warm-up, and a really nice one too.
I haven’t hear from the powerpop band The Genuine Fakes in four years, since they released their debut album “The Striped Album”. But now they are soon coming out with their second album, and just like the band above, they give us an appetizer in the shape of a Christmas single. The first track is a cover of a song from “Frozen” and the second one is their own, a song they released last year as part of charity record.
Michael Fannon won the radio show “Svensktoppen nästa 2015”, and he follows up on his single hit with a great Christmas track called “Första julen utan dig”.
Sveket is another project that makes a comeback with a Christmas song. Here with a great version of “Last Christmas”, a song which has been played a bit too much over the years, but which I think they revitalize with their new version. “Förra julen” is also the name of an EP released simultaneously, containing two earlier singles and a new song, beside this cover.
Nilla Nielsen has collaborated with Lasse Lindbom on this song they have written together. That Lasse has some experience with Christmas songs from before is something you probably have noted, if you’ve ever been in Sweden at Christmas time any year after 1987, and also this time the topic is peace, love and understanding.
And now to something completely different. No, it’s not “that” “White Christmas”, but totally a different one from the Los Angeles band Hobart W. Fink. Not so much of a cute Christmas atmosphere perhaps, but rather a rough indie grunge-vibing one. The song is taken from their EP “Post Hummus”.
And then Bangalore bring us down to earth again and reminds us to put some perspective on our gluttony. Here in a synthpop-vibing, lo-fi and quite catchy song.
Even Square have made a Christmas track this year, which they describe as “…an attempt to catch the hedonistic basic values of Christmas and that the most ecological, economical, ethical and most wanted solution is to give yourself away as a Christmas gift.” Well, it rocks, it’s the Christmas groove of the year I think.
British Femme has made the coolest Christmas track on the list. The song is also a part of a charity project called CoppaFeel!, which is about breast cancer awareness.
“Merry Christmas, Marie” was the first song in 17 years from the 90’s band Red Sleeping Beauty. It’s also the second single from their upcoming album, to be released in about half a year.
I’m finishing this Christmas special with a song that is note entirely new, but that has become a favourite of mine from the recent year’s Christmas specials. Pär Edwardson is also out now with his second album “PearShaped”
The two musicians Gustaf Nygren (Trädet, Sounds of Nonno) and Oscar Björk (Velu Leka), hailing from Stockholm, have created the new project Eko together. Last month they released the debut EP “Ekonomusik”, an EP they describe as “an ambient half hour in three pieces with a hope of larger forests and less borders.” And the hope is very much alive in this bright and beautiful music, which is glimmering from the meeting between electronic, imaginative spaces and electric guitar sounds. There is a sense of nature lyric in the music, which reminds me of some of Björn J:son Lindh’s records, in the grandness and in the stroke of nordic melancholy. Here’s one of the three tracks.
SQRD is an artist from Uppsala who moved to Berlin to focus on music full time. And with his exciting debut EP “Keep Saying” he fits perfectly in the city’s creative electronica scene. This feels unique and interesting where he express experimental ambitions as well as catchy hooks. Here’s the title track from the EP.
Behind the artist name Saliko we find Emanuel Tägil, an artist who has played with various bands before, but who decided two and a half year ago to go his own way. The album “I Laid Myself Down Like a Temple Ruin” was released on Sunday and is his debut. He says that he wants to express his musical identity by mining everything that has inspired him during the years. To take in everything from black metal to church music and computer games and try to find some common ground where all this meet. It is a fascinating journey which is impossible to characterize in a genre and where he uses an analogue synth, acoustic instruments, percussion, sampled sounds from nature, drum machines and vocals. He defies common song structures and is moving somewhere between art music and pop where I can hear ambiences from church music, ageless folk music, 80’s new wave and minimalism. Here are two songs to taste.
Genius – “Floating On Air (Tribute To Etienne Cap)”
The French electronica project Genius has an ongoing series of songs called “Point of View” where they make tributes to all the geniuses that has inspired them. They have released reworks and interpretations of songs from artists like Roy Ayers, Dusty Springfield and Herbie Hancock before. Here is their latest creation with the relatively unknown Etienne Petrus V. Cap in the center of attention. Etienne Cap was a Belgian soul and funk musician, first of all a trumpet player, who played with Max Greger orchestra and James Last among others.
The Royal Ruckus, hailing from Landskrona, released their fourth EP “Wake Up” in November. They serve a great hard bluesrock, where I especially fell for the first track “Let Me Tell You”.
The OhNos launched their debut EP “Queens of the Underworld last month. It’s a quite fitting name for a record where they play an uncomplicated garagepunk which is quite irresistable. Here’s a taste.
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