On The Cinnamon

Old Amica – “Old Oaken Pond”

The duo Old Amica have been our guests several times before here on Meadowmusic. Now they are preparing to launch a new album, “Fabula”, on the 26th of March. “Old Oaken Pond” is the first glimpse of the album and beside their own special indie-sound there is a nostalgic vibe in this song, as the song title implies. A bit like if  Hotennany Singers made a comeback and started playing folk indie.

Other People – “Somewhere Far Away” – album

Other People is an alias for the composer Jakob Lindhagen and his solo project. His new album is called “Somewhere Far Away”, an instrumental album focusing on Jakob’s minimalistic piano playing. Every tone seems carefully devised in these melancholic melodies, which sometimes are accompanied by a gentle cello or an ambient pad. The ambience and the melodies make me think of Björn J:son Lindhs “Bilder från en ö” and of music from some of the Swedish TV-drama series.

Up The Hill

Up The Hill is a four man strong band, who so far have released an EP with six tracks.  I can’t come up with a band to compare them with as they sound so special. Both in the way they mix their influences and in the way they build the songs. The soulful vocals is a strong characteristic of the songs, but in the end I feel that the songs still have a strong focus on the instrumental parts, where I hear progressive seventies’ vibes, Dire Straits-guitars, blues and folk indie. Quite dynamic songs which build up a strong groove sometimes. Here are two of them:

On the Cinnamon – “Indecency”

When the songwriter Jonas Lindsköld told me about the band On the Cinnamon’s debut single “Indecency”, he also wrote that they sound like their band name. I scratched my head and started wondering if he was referring to “Cinnamon Girl”, because there are certain Neil Young-vibes in the song: the simple sound, the guitars and the touch of Americana. But no, I found the explanation further down in the mail; the bandname was a direct translation of the Swedish expression “(att vara) på kanelen” (an old Swedish expression saying that someone is a bit drunk). I’m not quite sure how I should interpret this either as the song is a charming, warm and close pop song with a certain sheen of unpolished indie. And it fits quite well with the sunny, early-Spring weather we have here now.

Hurula – “22”

Hurula is releasing another single from his upcoming album ”Vi är människorna våra föräldrar varnade oss för”. It’s called “22”, a punkish pop-melodic track with a great rough sound. I really like the chorus, and it’s the best song I’ve heard from Hurula so far.

Prince of Assyria

The Litsos – “Guidance”

The Litsos have released their second song in their single trilogy. It’s called “Guidance”, and is also a child of the eighties’ new wave era, and I’d say that Echo and the Bunnymen is not far away from this sound.

Prince of Assyria – “Bring Along Joy”

Ninos Dankha was born in Iraque, but came to Sweden with his parents when he was only one years old and then grew up in Linköping. As an artist he calls himself Prince of Assyria and is on his way of releasing his second album “Changing Places”, after a five year long break. The song “Bring Along Joy” is a first taste of the album, a melancholic singer/songwriter-track which reminds me a bit of Junip in the ambience. “Annika” is another song of his, which was released last year, and it’s so beautiful that I just had to add that one too.

Center of Attention – “Dancing In the Rain”

Center of Attention is a newly formed band from Stockholm. They write that they have worked behind other artists before, like Veronica Maggio and Erik Saade, and performed in musicals like “Kristina from Duvemåla” and “Rock of Ages”. Their own musical influences seem to come from other directions, though, to judge from their debut single “Dancing In the Rain”. Scissor Sisters, The Killers and disco influences from the eighties come to mind when I listen to this catchy rock/pop track.

Peacock Farm – New EP

The psychadelia-inspired Peacock Farm, whom I wrote about last month, released the EP they announced before. And the four songs on the EP doesn’t dissappoint me at all, considering the expectations I had after last month’s “Monogram (Plum Run)“. A great EP with music I’d like to hear more of.

Danmarck – “don’t mean in don’t mean out”

And finally Danmarck with a video follow-up to the last one “neat neat neat“. Rock. High volume is recommended.

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Tom Levin

Tom Levin – “Pull Yourself Together”

Tom Levin is releasing his second single from his new album, “Pull Yourself Together”, together with a fun video. I took the opportunity to listen to the entire album “Them Feet” also, which was quite an interesting experience. With the roots in Americana he blends this with various genre influences in rather different, inspiring and often stripped-down arrangements. Recommended. I also added another song from the album here below, the fascinating “Company Man”.

Weaver – “From Different Trees”

Weaver, or Johan Weber which is his real name, is releasing his debut EP on the 16th of March. As a first taste he’s showing us the Americana and country-vibing “From Different Trees”, together with this animated video:

Manfred Kidd – “Lights”

And here’s another song from an upcoming EP. It’s the duo Manfred Kidd, hailing from Göteborg, who have released their debut single “Lights”, with catchy, uplifting and playful indie. A strong debut.

Stars In Coma – “Tricks”

Stars In Coma, based in Malmö, will release their sixth album on the 30th of April. The new single “Tricks”,taken from the album, is a song that breathes of seventies’ pop, with a chorus that almost feels like a schlager hit from that decade. The front man André Brorsson writes that the album will be characterized by music from the seventies and the eighties, which also the earlier released song, the disco-inspired “By the Mechanical Urn”, suggests.

Lilla Milo

Dream Curtain – “Unknown Ends”

I’ve written before about William Hamparsomian and his solo project Dream Curtain. Yesterday he finally released the excellent debut album “Unknown Ends”. And it feels good with an entire album  from William, where we get to explore more of his dreamy, hypnotic soundscape, which we recognize some of before. Here it’s also mixed with quite a dose of analogue electro pop with nice melodies, at least in a more obvious way than before. You can listen to and dowload the album on his Bandcamp page.

Faråker – “Sista fajten”

Faråker har just released a new single, “Sista fajten”. It’s pop in his characteristic dialect from Blekinge, but angrier and rawer than ever before. The strongest track I’ve heard so far from Faråker.

Lilla Milo

Lilla Milo is a band that started out in Malmö, but where some of the members are living in Stockholm today. Since they began in 2010 they have released threes singles, a couple of videos and toured around Sweden on clubs and festivals. When I listen I get a lot of soul vibes, a lot of them coming from the singer Cosima Lamberth’s wonderful soulful voice. Here are two of the singles and also a great live recording of the song “Du sa”, a song that hasn’t been released yet.
I’d like to add that the drummer Jonnie Holmberg, from the band, has started a blog about the music scene in Malmö which is worth reading. Recommended if you’re intrested in this, and know how to read Swedish.

After working with the producers Adam Lasus and Jaria Haapalainen on the two earlier records “Spark Large” adn “Pop Cycle”, the duo Marching Band, Eric Sunbring och Jacob Lind, decided to produce the third album on their own in their home studio. They wanted to get back to a DIY-feeling with a more unpolished sound, fewer recording tracks for each song and as far away as they could from todays’ typical reverbs. And they succeed quite well with their intentions; they carve out an original indie pop vibe, alive and close-up, with tons of good pop melodies and organical sounding, interesting arrangements. They’ve squeezed in as much as 21 songs on the album, also available on a double vinyl which seems fitting. The more than 70 minutes of indie pop may be a bit excessive to grasp in a single listening session, but I won’t complain; I gladly listen to this impressive album in several sets.

Marching Bands hemsida – på Facebook – på Spotify – på Wimp – på Rara