You are probably wondering about where Dubious Quip is. Yes, I’m talking about the artist who seven years ago gave us the track “Obedient Minds”, a contagious, laidback tune with reggae vibes. After several more songs in the same spirit he disappeared from the spotlight and after the song “Boom Boom Boom” all traces after him stop.

Rumour has it that he got a haircut and a job. And that he changed his name to Daniel Rosenholm. It just happens that an artist with the same name released a new song and music video now in January, “It’s Gonna Be Alright”. Here the urban environment has been replaced with a breath of fresh air and the electronic instruments with acoustic ones. In a melody which makes think about “Autumn Leaves” he soon picks up a sweet backbeat groove we recognize. It’s a minor-drenched comforting song that dives straight into the melancholy, introducing a warm ambience and uplifting rhythms. So I might as well say welcome back to Daniel and hope that he has more tunes underway.

Daniel Rosenholm on Facebook – on Spotify – on Apple Music

It’s exciting with music that is searching more or less actively for what it really is. That is how I perceive this album, not as if it has an identity problem, but rather like if it is trying new ways in a playful and fascinating manner. “Gnistor, irrbloss” is music for a wind quartet (mostly brass), percussion and a voice (Nicolai Dunger), who alternately improvise, sound and play compositions which sometimes just are, sometimes are pop-melodic and sometimes are fragmentary. This search also makes it hard to categorize. Sometimes it sounds like jazz, but it’s also art music and pop. “Gnistor…” is the first album of two made in this way.

The founder is Johan Arrias, who gathered the musicians playing on the album, and he also writes that the record is “a mixture of ready-mades, poetry, songs, sounds and sketches”. This makes the album appear like an art gallery or maybe like a part of an art gallery. In any case, I get quite curious about the continuation.

Sista striden

Reglerna och leken
Johan Arrias’ site – on Spotify – on Apple Music – on Bandcamp

Sveket with Magnus Olsve is back with a new single. Except from a Christmas track in 2015 it’s been a couple of years since he released a song, but with the new ” Jämtland” he continues where he left off. Sveket’s signature sound is a blend of bittersweet schlagerpop from the 60’s and newer synthloaded costumes. In “Jämtland” this mix works perfectly, and fits in a creative way with the lyrical theme as well. With music written by Mattias Petterson, Magnus finds peace again in the north of Sweden where he grew up, travelling from a rough ambience in Stockholm and seasons the journey with the eighties’ grand-sounding nostalgia all over the soundscape.

Sveket on Facebook – on Spotify – on Apple Music

It’s time to pick up the pen again and I do that in the company of the duo Anti Pony, Sanna Colling och Alexander Pierre, who have spent the Winter in the studio together with the producer Max-Måns Wikman (Dolores Haze, Those Dancing Days, Side Effects). On Thursday we get to hear the result, packaged as their first EP, “Alexander”. Here’s a taste from the album in the shape of the sweet, psychadelic and suggestive song “Pale Blue Hours”. They have refined their sound and radiate, if possible, even more vibes of the late 60’s, and a more prominent Hammond organ, than on the earlier singles, adds the finishing touch. Best so far from the duo, on all levels.

Anti Pony on Facebook – on Spotify – on Apple Music

And here’s my best wishes for a warm and relaxing Christmas holiday. Taste some new Christmas songs.

Mankku [Mancko] – “Brustna hjärtan på annandag jul”

A Treehouse Wait – “Make the Gates All Wide”

L.E.J – “Game of Bells”

Finnegan’s Hell – “Drunken Christmas”

Femme – “2016 (Cry Cry Cry)”