The band Wrstlng, hailing from Göteborg, are releasing their debut EP “Hoarse Bear” tomorrow and also invite everyone to a release gig in Malmö in the evening. You can say that record is a rehearsal before the upcoming full length album the band is planning, and it consist of songs they have recorded between 2013 and 2015. The sound varies a bit between the tracks, but here below you can hear the two latest songs. In any case their special style comes clear on the EP. You hear embedded vocals and layered guitars with vibes of shoegaze while their light melodies more remind me about classic Swedish indie pop. Well, I guess you could call it happy shoegaze. I asked the band to write a few sentences about the songs::

About “Meds”: “The beta version of ‘Meds’ is really one of the first songs we started out with when we were rehearsing as a band. After a while we tucked it away in the closet, without thinking about it and when it was time for doing some live shows we dusted it off, argued about why we ever put it away, and spiced it up. The ‘Meds’ 2.0 now recorded summarizes what we like ourselves and feels a bit like our anthem.” (translated from Swedish)

About “Avgå”: “‘Avgå’ is really a featherlight lounge tune, but when we started recording we started adding strange guitars which was fun (even if the song suffered somewhat). Then Palle moved to Ängelholm and bought a synth, which was also fun (even if the song had to suffer some more).” (translated from Swedish)

Wrstlng on Facebook – on Spotify – on Apple Music

Yesterday the Christmas season started for real as I had to scramble up att seven and join my daughters in front of the TV to watch this year’s Christmas calendar. And every year it’s both fascinating and a bit stressful to see how much a holiday can dominate society during one whole month. In the music business many say that December is the worst period during the year to release music, if it’s not Christmas songs of course.

I’m not going to revel in Christmas vibes here on the blog, though, with just a couple of exceptions. I will probably have a traditional post about new Christmas songs later on, and also present a tip about an alternative Christmas calendar today. It’s the singer-songwriter Mårten Lärka who this year counts ten year for his Christmas track “Trasiga pepparkakshjärtan” (“Broken gingerbread hearts”). He’s celebrating this by inviting friends and artist colleagues to make their own versions of the song, which he presents every day in the calendar together with some other clips. Most of it is in Swedish. He writes:

“There’s a huge varaition among the contributions. One clip from Paris gives me goosebumps and another from Brunflo (town in Jämtland, in the north of Sweden) is a piece of fascinating swamp blues and yet another is a collage of images, so strong I don’t know how to handle it.” (transl. from Swedish)

You can follow the calendar on Mårten Lärka’s Facebook page and here below you can listen to the original song and also watch the first part. And first up was the mentioned swamp blues with Jens Gustavson in Brunflo.

I’m almost hypnotised by Lilou’s vocals. Her dark alto voice breathes of blackness, mystique and rock attitude, like a magical music incantation I just have to listen to again and again. Together with her husband she form the duo Lilou & John, who earlier this Autumn released the debut EP “100 Faces”.

Here we hear them in five tracks that spans from epic folk songs to alternative rock and indiepop, all wrapped in an unpolished sound that perfectly matches Lilou’s charsima. Each song also has a corresponding music video created by different video artists from USA and Brazil. You can watch an example here below in the video to the song “When Murder Victims Die”, a video created by Patrick Paax. The other videos are available on their Youtube channel.

Lilou & Johns site – on Facebook – on Spotify – on Apple Music

About “He Broke My Neck, Joséphine”: “…inspired by a vivid dream that came to Lilou one night. The ghost child Elizabeth shared with her the last days of her life, and in the dream Lilou felt the brutality when the father of Elizabeth’s love Joséphine broke her neck. It happened somewhere at the end of the 19th century or beginning of the 20th not far from the city of Jönköping.“

About “100 Faces”: “About our instinct to always hide our true self, maybe further emphasized by the alienating effect of the modern society of consumption and our emotional difficulties.” (transl. from Swedish)

About “When Murder Victims Die”: “…tells the story of the post-traumatic experiences of a child surviving a brutal serial killer. The lyrics was highly influenced by Motörhead and Lilou decided at an early stage that she would sing the song in a weird, tim-burtonesque way, balancing on the edge of quirky disharmony.“

The duo Oh Jonathan released this nice video today to put some focus on their song “Animal Song”. It’s feelgood pop in triple time with pump organ and a sunny circus atmosphere that should make the cloudiest day seem a little bit brighter. The song is taken from their new EP “Frickin’ Fairytale”, which is available now.

Oh Jonathan på Facebook – på Spotify – på Apple Music

Few artists can make the lyrics sound so engaging as Simon Norrsveden. And on his fifth and latest album”Tarquinia”, this is even more obvious when he has downscaled the arrangements to a more analogue and organic sound. Here we come much closer and his bright crystal clear vocals deliver every word like if it’s a secret just for you. We meet him in magically beautiful time-stops-for-a-moment-songs like “Tarquinia” and in strong pop tracks with choruses and phrases that stick in your mind like in “Lika Tight som Rock’n’Roll”. The analogue noise has it’s effect and makes the songs feel alive. Rough panned drums, raw, crunchy guitars and other colourful touches in the production keep you on your toes throughout the journey through the album, contrasting the sweet melodies. In the end I’m also rewarded with the final and best song on the album, “Babies”.

Simon Norrsveden on Facebook – on Spotify – on Apple Music