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

Two years ago I presented a couple of songs with The Happy Hippo Family. The songs ended up on the debut album “Monacoville” in 2011, an album that I missed out on unfortunately. But that doesn’t matter now as the band has started to release new songs during the spring; the best I’ve heard from them this far and with a new character to the sound. First up was “Mustache” two months ago and now, some days ago “Settle For Gold”.

And what about the band name? How did that come about? Timmy Bjärnebro tells us:

In 2008 The Happy Hippo Family was formed as a collective when ten childhood friends together found a time gap to spend their “last” youth summer, before serious jobs and studies would take over. Among other things we wanted to make music together, even though nobody had really played for years. When the band name was up for decision we wanted a name that reflected the feeling that the collective could do just about everything we wanted to do, and we could call ourselves anything. Said and done, everyone wrote down corny names on pieces of paper and we had a lottery. We drew a ticket and the winner was… The Happy Hippo Family.

Linsten more and follow them on their site. You can also find them on Facebook and on Spotify.

Mustache

During the nineties David Myhr was a member of the power pop band The Merrymakers. Now he’s back with his first solo album “Soundshine”, a very fitting name for the album. Even if the lyrics aren’t that sunny, the music is; the album is filled to the rim with melodies, hooks and refrains we sing a long with all the way to the beach.

To me this IS pop, that is what I grew up with and defined pop as a word to me during the seventies. ELO, 10cc,  Gilbert O’Sullivan, George Harrison walks by and the master himself, Paul McCartney, is very much present. From that point of view  “Soundshine” has nothing to be ashamed for. It’s an impressive collection of songs, where I think each and everyone of the tunes would qualify as a gluey pop single.

Here below David treats us with the first two tracks from the album. To listen more, you can go to Spotify or to Wimp. Follow David on his site and on Facebook.

Never Mine
Looking For a Life

Here’s a song from Television Keeps Us Apart, a band that released a two-track single during Spring, “Death by Sisters Five”; a couple of great indie pop tunes with strong vibes from the sixties.

I don’t know much else about them, exept that they released the album “A Slight Change of Light” a couple of years ago, an album mainly based on electronica, contrasting this new single. You can listen to all songs on Spotify, on Wimp or on Soundcloud and you can follow the band on Facebook.

It It Really True

Last week Theo Berndt released the second single, “It’s Complicated” from the upcoming album “F.E.A.R.S.”, and a couple of weeks ago also a video to the earlier single “Supersized”. Help yourself!
You can follow Theo Berndt on their Facebook page.

It’s Complicated