Dödens Dal, that is the duo Henrik von Euler and Rickard Jäverling, will release a follow-up to their two earlier albums in the Autumn. The trilogy, which was described as a mourning process from the start, will now come to a conclusion with the record “På Natten, Ovan Molnen”. This week they gave us a first taste, the song “Det som följer”, which may send us a hint of where they are heading with the new album.
We arrive in a grand soundscape with slowly pumping, dark synths. There is some other vibe to it now, though, like if we’re walking with determined steps out of sadness towards something different. This feeling is confirmed in the end of the song when the clouds suddenly disperse, the sunlight cuts through and the major scales beautifully lights up our way. This is accompanied by a faint breeze of nostalgia, like a calm reflection of what’s been, as we’re making our way toward brighter days.
Yesterday Dödens Dal released a video to the wonderful alternative vocal song version “Måste det vara så?”, sung by Peter Morén (the name of the instrumental original song is “Över fältet, mot ljusen”). The song is taken from the album “Korsa jord, luft, is (vocal versions)”, which I’ve told you about before. It was released earlier this Autumn with seven new vocal versions of the duo’s instrumental tracks. Besides Peter Morén you can listen to Jenny Wilson, Fredrik Wallenberg, Billie Lindahl among others. I’ve added the finishing track with Fredrik Wallenberg here below.
Long time no see. It’s been more than one and a half month since I posted. As I’ve been out on the road in Europe most of the time, without Internet connection, I haven’t even listened to music for quite some time. In the end I got such an abstinence that I just had to find a place with w-fi, put my headphones on, put on a playlist with new music and just dwell in this for a couple of hours. Probably my best listening experience this year. I guess I had to rest my ears for a while, find some new motivation and lust to take on a new music season.
So, let’s start today.
I have told you before about the duo Dödens Dal’s project about inviting singers to put lyrics on and perform songs from the duo’s last album. First up was Jenny Wilson with “Under lager av is” and now it’s Peter Morén’s (Peter, Björn & John) turn. The song is called “Måste det vara så?”, the original title is “Över fältet, mot ljusen”, and it’s another hit in this interesting project.
It’s unusual to meet songs in this way, first as an instrumental, and then as someone else’s interpretation lyricswise. I can compare it with reading a book, creating your own images, and then looking at the book-based movie, where you have to struggle with mixing your own interpretation with the director’s. An added song track can of course change a song to something completely different, but what happens here is that both Jenny and Peter add another layer to the ambience that’s already there, but at the same time add images and places that wasn’t there when I listened originally. Next month they will release an EP with more artists and songs, which will be exciting to explore.
Here’s a fresh single release from the duo Grapell. “Shaping My Love” is wonderful, warm soul pop with a touch of the eighties. The song is taken from the EP “Friends”, to be released on the eighth of October.
Alexandria is a band from Stockholm I wrote about last year, when they sent me the rehearsal room-recorded “Whatever”. Now they are signed to a label and have recently released their debut EP “Laid Back Forever EP”, about a week ago. The earlier song “Whatever” is there in the company of three other songs, in a sound that feels like indie pop inspired by the seventies, a bit in the direction of psychadelia, with distanced vocals and dreamy harmonies. There is a common denominator in the sound and the harmonies between the songs, but they vary the rhythm in an interesting way; from the nice soul-tasting groove in the title track to a more straight rock beat in “Secret Beach”, with it’s hooky guitar figure. A fun and great debut to listen to. Here’s “Another Station” from the record together with the video to “Secret Beach”.
Luha is the name of a Swedish-Filippino artist, who recently released her second single, “Heart”. It’s a light and pleasant pop-track with a percussion-heavy chorus that makes me think of Iida. Sung with a bright and delicate voice the reminds me of Frida Sundemo.
Last year Noras Falcon, or Elin Rosenberg which is her real name, released the debut EP “The Spark”. One of the songs from the EP, the duet with Staphan O’Bell “Kiss the Night”, made it to my “Best of 2013”-list, but it could just as well have been this song, “Sing It Out Loud”. Her new video to the song gave me the opportunity to play it again:
Today I’m starting a series of posts with music from 2014 I haven’t had the time to publish yet. Well, new releases and even some older from last year will join the ride too. The stream of new music to my inbox has increased dramatically since a year back and it feels like I’m only scratching the surface. Rather than letting them go I feel I want to present as much as I can of this music, music I love just as much as everything else I’ve showed you earlier. So, less text and more music for a while now, which is hardly a problem I believe. I’m starting today with electro pop and music in the vicinity of this genre.
The duo For BDK with a dark, melodic and grand electro pop. They released the debut album “For Body Drugs & Kicks” May 30th. Here are two earlier tracks:
The trio Me The Tiger’s latest single “As We Really Are” is one of the songs that has affected me most this year. I can see in the singer Gabriella Åström’s eyes what the song is about; in the resignation, in the discomfort as she walks across empty school yards, in the sadness. When the chorus starts, marked with distorted tom punches like echoes from a broken soul, it’s like being punched by frustration and anger, punches that make their way to my heart and turn into sympathy. The strongest I’ve heard so far from Me The Tiger. The band write about the song:
The band’s songwriter Tobias has been working several years with young people who have dropped out of school and that have lived with various forms of mental illness during large parts of their lives. ”As We Really Are” is their story about being outside the normal society, about being tossed between authorities without any results and about being seen meerely as a number in the statistics with little hope for the future.
The producer duo Iberia, Alexander Palmestål and Maja Milner (singer and songwriter in Makthaverskan), released their debut album earlier this Spring. Here are two songs from the album:
Dödens Dal have invited their favourite singers to add vocals to Dödens Dal’s songs from the latest album “Korsa Jord, Luft, Is”, which will end up in a new album to be released in the Autumn. First up is Jenny Wilson in the song “Under lager av is”:
Peter Wickström isn’t just good at interviewing artists or at being a great singing coach, he’s also an artist and a songwriter to be reckoned with, which he shows in the latest single “Let the Rain Fall”:
Here’s some of the harvest from today of new exciting music with two artists I’ve written about before and two new acquaintances.
Filago is a a Swedish/French/Belgian trio who recently released their debut EP, an EP with an interesting mix of indie pop, folk and eighties’ vibes. Here’s the starting track “Funnel”:
Today the duo Dödens Dal are showing us another track, “Ingenting förändras” (“Nothing Changes”), from the upcoming record. The album “Korsa Jord, Luft, Is” will be released on the 26th of February.
The electro pop duo Rainmode have released their second single “The Foghorn” today. The first single “Buckle Up” from the Autumn made us long for more, and the band promise more singles soon and a debut album later in Spring.
And finally the debut single from a band with the ominous name Eternal Death. It’s called “Head”, an electro pop/disco song which takes the eighties’ reverbs to new heights. Worth noting is that the band’s debut came last year with the video “Eternal Death“, a video which consists of four minutes of total silence and darkness.
Meadowmusic presents new music from many corners and edges of the world, but with a strong focus on Swedish music. Listen, read, watch, comment and share the music. All songs you find here on this page have been approved for publication by the artists and labels.
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