From the lighter tones earlier today we now move to darker ones. Teenage anxiety for 30-year-olds, or a sad and introvert, dark post punk with pop vibes in Swedish, the duo Korset writes about their music.

The producer Tobias Westerberg and the singer and songwriter Peter Weicht in Korset have played together in various projects since 15 years back. Now they decided at first to create an angry, socially conscious industry project á la Nine Inch Nails, but this soon gave way for their own language and Swedish melancholy. This Spring they have released the EP “exorcisten” (“the exorcist”), an EP full of melancholy, dark beautiful melodies and punk distorted blackness.

About the band name Peter writes:

It sounds good. Symbolically it also seems to add an extra dimension to the music. Like standing in the shadow of something big that keeps judging you. But also, the stillness, the hopelessness and death.
(transl. from Swedish)

Follow the band on their blog and listen to the EP on Bandcamp.

Aldrig var jag bra

After almost a week with rain, the sun has today made a decisive appearance, and it almost feels like summer. It’s a perfect moment to sneak down to the open-air café where  salut!machaut is entertaining us today. The six member strong band, with their sunny pop melodies and cool groove backed by a a horn section, make everyone smile and involuntarily move their limbs, and become the soundtrack of the day in a sunny and somewhat windy Skåne.

salut!machaut released the EP “The Tumble” this Spring, and you can listen to it on Spotify and on Wimp. Follow them on their site and on Facebook.

The odd band name came about when Erik and Daniel from the band was studying music history. They read about the gregorian chants and was captured by the composer and poet Guillaume de Machaut, both by how well his name sounded and by his works. To emphasize the french pronounciation they added the word salut! which, according to the band, can be seen as a high five with the medieval hit maker.

The Tumble

In the Autumn The Search released the album “The Search For Connection, Contact and Community, one of my favourite albums from last year. And already now during spring they came out with the follow-up “Staying Alive In a Country Industrialized”, and with this album also a new line-up where only the singer and songwriter Razmig Tekeyan and drummer Per Tholander is left from before.

They also sound different now. It feels warmer and more open and with a clearer connection to the influences from the 80’s post punk och new wave bands. It’s a worthy follow-up to last years album and at the same time a fascinating new start for the band, which I will follow with great interest in the time to come.
You’ll find The Search on Facebook and you can listen to their music on Bandcamp and on Spotify.

We Fell Asleep In Each Other’s Arms and Never Woke Up

It’s not common that I receive good and intriguing pitches from artists and lables, i.e. promo texts that makes me flinch and urge me to find out more. Some month ago I received a good one, though, from Nick Ellis and the Noise, who just had released their debut single, “Delorean”:

My name is Nick Ellis. I’ve made a drum machine with the producer Max Martin, and now I’m using it to make music with my pals in Nick Ellis and the Noise.

We play synth pop and sounds like a mix of Depeche Mode and Beverly Hills Cop.

(translated from Swedish)

I listened to the song and sure there was retro sounding pop from the eighties. To me it doesn’t remind me too much of  Depeche Mode or Beverly Hills Cop, but definitely of a mix of English and American synth pop from the middle of the eighties, with an emphasis on the American part.

A few days ago, they also released a second single, “Breaking Apart”, which you can listen to on their site or on Spotify.

And what about this drum machine, which obviously Max Martin also was involved in? It turns out that Nick Ellis, who’s real name is Niklas Möller, was the designer of one of the most popular software drum machines today,  Addictive Drums, and is also one of the founders of the company behind the product, XLN Audio.

Here’s the first single, “Delorean”, as a sound track and as a video:

Delorean

Here’s a song with electronica duo Friday Bridge in a collaboration with Nicolas Makelberge. Disco pop with an air of bright pop; maybe a little of Fleetwood Mac like they suggest themselves. The duo has released two albums before, which you can check out on Spotify. Follow them on Facebook.

Dark Heart