We’re sure you can figure out what it’s about from the title alone. It shouldn’t take that much explaining right? We’re gonna celebrate the end of every month by picking out some of our favourite tracks from the thirty-odd days we’ve lived through from (loosely, we might include other Swedes sometimes, who knows) Stockholm/Stockholm-based artists. You can listen below.
SUDAKISTAN – TWO STEPS BACK
Apart from standalone single Ilegal, it’s been all quiet from chaos-rockers Sudakistan since the release of their debut album Caballa Negro three years ago. That’s changed this month. They’ve back with a new album Swedish Cobra, due out on August 31, and the single Two Steps Back. Two Steps Back is a reaffirmation of everything that people liked about Sudakistan, while also being a window into their new sound. It repeats the first album’s trick of pairing chirpy guitars and lush melodies with wild swings into audio violence. But what’s changed is the power – they were always chaotic, but now the music is heavy too, and Two Steps Back’s rocket-punch chorus hits harder than anything they’ve ever released before.
SABINA DDUMBA – SMALL WORLD
Sabina Ddumba made her way back into the music world with a new single this month. Small World starts off in a more chilled manner than Ddumba’s usual work, the singer letting her voice run softly under a subtle, clicking beat and warm synths. But that’s a decoy move, because Small World has what might be the ‘biggest’ chorus of Ddumba’s work to date. In theme (“we never give up, we never give up on love”) and melody, it’s got enormous singalong potential, and is sure to be a firework on the setlist of her future live shows. Speaking of which, she’s on a Swedish tour this summer and back in Stockholm in August at Kulturfestivalen.
SIRII – VET VI MENA SAMMA
Vet Vi Mena Samma is the debut offering from newcomer SiRii, and it’s a strong start. Vet Vi Mena Samma is a pretty uncomplicated song. The instrumentation doesn’t stray far from simple bouncing synth lines and a little vocal sampling on the chorus, and that puts the focus on the vocals to carry the song. Which they do, spectacularly. Vet Vi Mena Samma is a song that lives on Sirii’s golden melodies, simple, rhythmic lines that snap and flow and stick in your head all day. The whole song is a testament to simplicity in pop writing – nothing in the song is overwrought or unnecessary. It’s just colourful, sparkling pop music that breathes.
HATER – IT’S SO EASY
Lykke Li probably still at the top of the table for ‘making music that makes misery sound beautiful’, but Hater have been running her hard over the past couple of years for the title. The four-piece are back with a new album, Siesta, this autumn, and new single It’s So Easy is the first track out of the gates. In many ways, it’s a vintage Hater song – pretty jangling guitars, and a heartbruised sense of soul from Caroline Landahl’s pained-perfect vocal. They’ve added a little synth to the mix this time, but importantly, the freshening up doesn’t feel forced. Hater’s unique musical identity is what makes their music special, and It’s So Easy is unmistakably a Hater song, It’s out now, backed with the B-Side I Wish I Gave You More Time Because I Love You.
SWEEEP – UR DEAD BLUE EYES
Sitting somewhere in the Soundcloud space between witch-house, wave and a bunch of other genres, producer Sweeep released her debut EP Dissapear Here this spring and followed it up with another EP with WTCHCRFT, Atrophy. She’s also been putting up loosies on Soundcloud in that time, and one of those is Ur Dead Blue Eyes. More spaced-out and subtle than some of her clubbier, more intense work, Ur Dead Blue Eyes is slow-breathing and and narcotic, with a hazy heaviness to it, like submerging deep into a dream.
