A little more than a month ago Emerald Park released the album “Absolute Zero”, the third one since they started in 2002. It’s been four years since the last time and one would expect some changes in the music. And there is, quite a few, which they signalled with their single “Reality Bites” last year.

It’s more naked, happier, more tounge-in-cheek, more romantic and nostalgic and the entire production feels more spontaneous. They show their love for good pop melodies, which isn’t anything new to them, but it feels, well, more relaxed. I notice the americana influences in some songs and more than once I’m reminded of Magnetic Fields and also Jens Lekman.

Overall I think it’s a great album, varied and fun to discover, and an album that grows each time I listen. You can listen for yourself on Spotify or on Wimp. Follow the band on Facebook.

Here are two songs from the album, a replay of “Reality Bites” from last year, and the new song “Someone to Love”.

Reality Bites
Someone to Love

While waiting for a new album from Emerald Park we can now listen to their new single “Reality Bites”. Two great songs, with a somewhat new sound, where the acoustic guitars play a bigger part and everything feels more direct in a way.

Their great sense of melodies are there as before and with a hint of folk vibes I almost feel like joining the choir as I listen.

You can listen to the songs on Spotify or on Bandcamp, and if you haven’t listened to the excellent last album “For Tomorrow”, you can listen and download it on Bandcamp. You will also find Emerald Park on Facebook.

Reality Bites

A little more than a year ago Daniel Jönsson, guitarist in Emerald Park, released a solo album under the name Danish Daycare. Last month the singer in the same band, Tobias Borelius, released his debut album, “Du känner mig för väl, farväl”, a project that he’s been working on for a couple of years.

And we get to hear Tobias in a completely new context; he’s singing in Swedish and the sound is created with analogue synth sounds, assisted by acoustic guitars and piano, a sound created together with the producer Carl Granberg.

The sound is influenced by Adolphsson & Falk, Olle Ljungström, Familjen and Kent but I don’t feel any direct paralells; it feels rather special and personal where you get close to Tobias. Maybe it gets even more personal when someone sings in their own language in his own dialect like in this case.

There are eight tracks, with quite some variation, on this album which gets better and better each time I listen. You can listen to it on Spotify or on Tobias Borelius’ Bandcamp page. You can follow Tobias on his Facebook page and also of course on Emerald Park’s page.

Hiro

Daniel Jönsson started to work with his project Danish Daycare already in 2005, but the following years were occupied with his involvement in Emerald Park, as a keyboard player and guitarist. But last year he spent the time necessary to complete the production of the album “A Story of Hurt”, which was released in the late autumn of 2009.

I can find references to indie bands of the nineties and the 00-ties, but above all I get a lot of eighties feelings from this record. Well, in the sound and the ambience in itself and from bands like The Cure, The Church and  New Order. I get reminded of Alan Parsons Project in the grand ballad “Never Change Never Fade”, Pet Shop Boys take a peek in “Red Dead Flowers” and U2 in “She Said a Lot”. It’s a varied album with a changing degree of electronica- and guitar background, with an overall atmosphere containing a certain amount of darkness, and an album that grows with each listen.

You can meet Danish Daycare on Myspace and on his Bandcamp page, where you can listen to the entire album “A Story of Hurt”. If you’re in Malmö on the 6th of May, you have the opportunity to see them live at Kick-Start.

Here are two songs from “A Story to Hurt” to listen to and to download:

A Purpose to My Sins
Never Change Never Fade

Last month Emerald Park released their second studio album “For Tomorrow”. The album is produced by Ola Frick from Moonbabies. You can listen and download two tracks from the album below.

And it is a strong album they have created. Dreamy, grand pop, but without the big poses is combined with an indie sound. A sound where I hear an ambition to create their own sound, without the polished edges which make music boring. And the fact that the album contains a number of great pop songs with direct, but yet interesting melodies doesn’t make it any worse.

If you’d like to listen more to Emerald Park and “For Tomorrow” you should visit their page on Last.fm or their Myspace page.

Värnhem:

Lights of Sunday
For Tomorrow