First Love, Last Rites, hailing from Umeå, is underway with a new album, “Wasted Hearts”, which will be available December 5th. A little more than a week ago they released the single “Charlot”, as a first glimpse of how the album will sound. I do recognize them from the debut album, with a dreamy, melodic shoegaze. At the same time they announce a sound where they lean a little less on the massive guitars and noise and more and more on melodie, that is more indie pop and less shoegaze, which can be scented in the single track.

First Love, Last Rites on Facebook – on Spotify – on Wimp

Charlot

EP’s Trailerpark opens up the door some more to the upcoming album with another strong track, this time with the single and video “Last Night On Earth”. Erik Palmqvist wants us to think a little about what we’re doing, but leave us, I’d say, with a rather hopeful ambience from the music; “We will sort this out”.

EP’s Trailerpark’s site – on Facebook – on Spotify

The band Cyan Marble, hailing from Västerås, say that they get inspiration from movies and old TV series like Twilight Zone. And that ingredient is quite obvious and makes their sound special on their new EP “Mirror”. There they present three songs, which first of all make me think about progressive rock, a rather intense one and then also with this old TV-thriller vibe, highlighted with organs and theremin-sounding synth figures with that classical horror trembling. Even if I haven’t been able to enter the lyrics at all, the songs overall feel filmic, where they pass through quite a few sequences during the rather short song durations (for being progressive music). An experimental album with a rather unique sound.

Cyan Marble on Facebook – on Bandcamp

Ankh

The quartet Rooni, hailing from Stockholm, released their debut single “Run (Into My Arms)” a couple of weeks ago, and next week the follow-up will be available, “Danny’s Gun”. Behind the microphone we find Gustav Nilsson, whom I wrote about a year ago when he released his album “Makeup On, Letdowns Off”. And I do recognize some of it from the earlier recordings, in the groove and in the retro vibe with a dose of classic pop and rock from the seventies, but at the same time it’s of course something completely new about the sound.

They say themselves that bands like Pixies, Stone Roses and Big Star have been sources of inspiration, but add that they might not sound at all like these. Big Star and a little of Stone Roses is what I come to think of when I read this, and with a garage-indie sound added to it we’re closing in on what their music sounds like. If you’re in Stockholm next week, November 27th, you can watch their live debut on Southside Cavern. You can download the first single here below, and the second one is already available on their Soundcloud page.

Rooni’s site – on Facebook – on Spotify – on Wimp – on Soundcloud

Run (Into My Arms)

Giuseppe Velasco is a singer/songwriter, based in Stockholm, who released his debut EP “Heart Away” this Autumn. It’s about four tracks with a stirring and uplifting pop where classically smooth pop melodies are lifted by playful arrangements. The song “Younger”, here below, stands out from the rest with it’s more dense electronica arrangement, but I enjoy the other songs just as much. A strong EP debut which I recommend to try out.

Velasco on Facebook – on Spotify – on Soundcloud

Younger