It looks like 2010 is unofficially being taken over by Swedes, thanks to Swedish label Labrador, who already released one album earlier this week from Sambassadeur, and are set to release new albums from The Radio Dept. and Club 8 in the coming months. Unless you completely despise Swedish pop (if so, what’s wrong with you?!), than you can only react with absolute delight over this news.
Club 8, a band I discovered in 2007 with their lovely album The Boy Who Couldn’t Stop Dreaming, are a duo comprised of Johan Angergård (also member of The Legends and Acid House Kings, along with serving as label chief of Labrador) and Karolina Komstedt. You can read a bit more about them in my older post here, but their brand of indiepop counted for one of the many reasons that I completely fell in love with the genre to begin with.
They recently released a new single, which seems to be heavily influenced by what seems to be the current trend of Afrobeat and high-life sounds. Despite my apprehension, the song actually works really well and comes off as a very fun and upbeat tune. Not sure if this is indicative of the entire record, but I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough as Club 8’s 7th album entitled The People’s Record is due out on May 12th.
It only took a little more than a year and a half, but it’s with a sigh of relief to report that The Radio Dept.’s oft-delayed third record Clinging To A Scheme will finally see the light of day on March April 20th in North America (frustrating!) and the 21st in Europe. The CD/LP will be available via Labrador. Now that we actually have album art and a tracklist to gloss over, it’s actually starting to sink in and feel more official that this is finally happening.
To add to the great news, a stream (MP3 available below) of the track “Heaven’s On Fire” was made available through the band’s official site, which joins “David” – the single from the previously released 4-track EP in June of last year – as the first songs that we’ve been able to hear so far.
What else needs to be said? I’ve already on record as saying that this is my most anticipated album of 2010, and while I’ve anxious/nervous to hear the final product, I’m confident that when April comes around that we’ll be back here singing its praises in unison.
Feels like quite some time has past since I’ve posted anything, for which I do apologize. I’ve been busy as of late; and while I can’t divulge any kind of information at the moment, some big changes will be coming within the next couple of months that may even affect this blog in some way or form. So stay tuned!
Anyways, I figured it’d be best to jump right back into things with some noteworthy news that I haven’t been able to update and/or just have downright neglected. The announcement of a new four-track EP from The Radio Dept. should come as no surprise that it would be mention here, as I’ve been a staunch supporter of this band for as long as I’ve been blogging. In fact, I recently just watched Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette again on DVD in hopes that I would actually enjoy it this time, unfortunately, to no avail. For many, that film was the first introduction to these Swedes and I speak for all of us in saying that we’re better off now because of it.
Back to this song, which kind of threw me off a bit in the beginning with that little thumping beat that begins within the opening seconds. I would say it almost sounds like something from fellow Swedes Peter, Bjorn & John — that is, until you dig a little deeper, which the folks at Nialler9 discovered is a friendly nod to Barbara Acklin’s “Am I The Same Girl”. Amazing what little details you can discover about a song, huh? Anyways, after a few listens, I’ve decided that it’s a solid pop tune filtered through that familiar Radio Dept. guise we’ve all come to love and admire. Just like “Freddie and the Trojan Horse” from the previous EP of the same title, I wouldn’t put it up with the band’s best, but it’s serviceable.
Now, if Labrador would only pick up the pace a little bit on details of when the much-delayed third album Clinging to a Scheme will be released and I will be a happy man.
I mentioned in a previous post how I discovered a lot of great music over on the excellent Labrador label, and one band that has me nearly up in arms for not discovering them sooner is this Swedish duo The Sound of Arrows. Their single, release earlier in the year called “M.A.G.I.C.,” is just a bundle of electronic joy wrapped into a three minute pop song.
At times it’s very reminiscent of the Pet Shop Boys from the nasal, high-pitched vocals and the analog synths that form their exuberant sound. It’s up until the moment where a young group of children begin chanting M-A-G-I-C, that this song becomes beyond irresistible. You can’t shy away from it, instead, you just come away from it a lot more happier than you were.
While these singles are currently available on Labrador, there is still no official word on when their debut album will be released. Just the vague answer of “sometime in the Fall” is all we get, along with every other new album that I’m dying to hear from the label being relegated to that status. That being said, I’ll be keeping a close eye on these guys as they seem to be doing truly wonderful things right now.
This may be considered considered “old news” as far as blog standards go, but this EP — aptly titled #4 from Suburban Kids with Biblical Names — completely passed under my radar when it was released back in February on Labrador. It just so happens that I came across it after visiting the label’s site in hopes of finding some shred of news regarding The Radio Dept. I guess I should visit more often, as I found lots of great stuff that you will hopefully be seeing here in the coming days.
Still waiting for the proper follow-up to 2005’s #3, this four track EP from Johan Hedberg and Peter Gunnarson serves its purpose well as a pleasant stop gap towards the new record’s eventual release. The free downloadable track “1999″ is an example of a crazy pop song done properly. It’s upbeat and playful all the way through, even towards the end with what sounds like the garbled sounds of a dog who may or may not be drowning. Who the hell knows!
Since the release of Club 8’s sixth record The Boy Who Couldn’t Stop Dreaming, i’ve wanted to say something here about the album so badly; it’s just that I kept dragging it out to the point that I just decided to go ahead and write something before it ends up being irrelevant. It’s sad that i’ve taken so long, because this is such a gorgeous album from beginning to end and it just deserves to be mentioned in the highest regard. With a variety of songs on display here that range from heartwarming ballads to upbeat indiepop, there’s just a little bit of everything.
It’s amazing once you realize that this is the work of only two individuals, as the production and all of the instrument work is handled by Johan Angergård, who also moonlights as a member of The Legends and Acid House Kings – each of whom are signed to Swedish label Labrador of which he is also label chief. The other half of this duo, Karolina Komstedt, is really the heart of this group in my opinion, as her ethereal vocals lay over each of the twelve tracks like a shimmering blanket of indiepop perfection. You can notice the contrast in songs right away just from the first two tracks, as “Jesus, Walk With Me” begins slowly as it plays over delicately plucked acoustic guitar that really sets a simple melodic tone before jumping right into the clap happy sounds of the next track “Whatever You Want.” A song that I completely fell in love with when I first heard it during the beginning of the summer.
It’s such a great album and I highly recommend you check it out if you ever have the chance. Everything from the singing, to the instruments have never sounded better as they do here. I read on a review somewhere that described it as “aloe vera for the soul” which just makes me smile.
It only took a little more than a year and a half, but it’s with a sigh of relief to report that 
This may be considered considered “old news” as far as blog standards go, but this EP — aptly titled #4 from 
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