Crying Day Care Choir charmed us a couple of years ago with their folk pop tune “July”. Now they are back with the debut EP in the same musical spirit, the acoustic flower power-vibing “Join the Joyful Revolution”.

And the message is clear: they want to make the world a better place through flowers and love. They also contribute in a more direct way by giving all the profits from the digital release to Yoko Ono’s peace organization Imagine Peace.

About the band name Jack from the band writes:

In the beginning it was meant to refer to how it sounds when children cries uncontrollably in a group. If you ignore the hysteria, they can, in the middle of the sobbing, hit common tones and it sounds like magic.
Then after a while we found that the name also can relate to our purpose with the band; our wish and quest for a better world. Because if you have a “Crying Day”, who doesn’t need a “Care Choir” then? It feels applicable to the world’s situation too :)

You can listen to the EP and contribute on Bandcamp. You can also find them on Spotify and on Facebook.

Join the Joyful Revolution

Suspended Sunday is a trio that consists of Kenneth Burman and brother and sister Albin and Lisa Gillgren. On the new album “No Rest For the Weary” they invite us to a relaxing mix of acoustic pop, singer/songwriter and Americana. It’s an enjoyable and well sounding album with beautiful vocal harmonies and skillfully crafted songs, which manage to keep me interested through all songs. All three members have contributed with songs and each one sings lead vocals on their own songs.

About the origins of the band name Kenneth Burman says:

The name comes from that we wanted a name where you get a vibe from the genre and the ambience of the music. Suspended sunday like when you take it easy and rest to soft tones. But there is also a connection to the title track “No rest for the weary” where the meaning is that you do the opposite to what you do on a traditional Sunday, but with no religious context. A dual meaning simply put.

You can listen to the album on Spotify, on Wimp or similar services. Follow the band on Facebook. Here are the first and the last track on “No Rest For the Weary”:

Leave You Behind
The Whale

Lorentzo Jönsson is a young singer/songwriter who released his debut EP during spring, “For the Night”. It’s naked, melancholic and the album cover describes the music well, where he stands there half-naked, alone below the city light only accompanied by a keyboard. Lorentz both have the courage and the expression to fill out this room with his voice and it feels like the beginning of a story that I’d like to find out more about-

You can listen more on Lorentzo’s site or on Spotify. You can also find him on Facebook.

Dance

This spring Tim Schmidt released his third album, “Dog”, and it feels like he’s carved out his own americana niche. It’s an inspired album where he with a few tools pushes the borders by not “only” showing us beautiful finger picking, but experiments more with the backing and colours of the songs also with more instruments, overdubs and variations. It’s still stripped and naked and with his special, somewhat nasal Nick Drake-like vocals, but feels more spontaneous.

You can listen more on his Bandcamp page or on Spotify. Follow Tim on Facebook.

Arrows

You can call it acoustic folk punk or Swedish progressive music if you’d like. The band JA!, hailing from Umeå, released this year their debut album “Vi heter ja” (“Our name is YES!”); 8 songs with clenched fists, sing-a-long refrains an Swedish prog melancholy. They call themselves street musicians and the frequent performances in streets and town squares is what has shaped the band’s music. The singer Johan Wallén writes:

Since May 2010 we have played for thousands of people in the streets. 12 people here, 40 people there, 100 people there and then for 6 people at a bus stop. Last year we played live more than most bands rehearse, if not more. We walk up to a group of people and say: “Hey, we’re going to play a song for you now”, and then we just play. Often it ends up in a sing-a-long and we leave a bunch of happy people behind as we head on to the next place.
(translated from Swedish)

The band name was invented just when the project started. Johan renamed the work folder for the song “En trosa med en blomma” (“Panties with a flower”) to JA! And according to Johan JA! (“Yes!”) has come to stand for positive songs that provoke, Yes! to love, anarchy for the free thought and that everyone should be allowed to be exactly who they are.

The album is available on Spotify, Wimp and Bandcamp. You can follow the band on Facebook and on their blog.

Sliten men vacker