Pot-Pourri? Who are they? They’re no-one and they are everyone!
Owing to the tsunami of releases right now, the majority of which would be overlooked, I’ve decided to introduce this Pot-Pourri section for as long as it takes, to help clear a big backlog of fairly recent ones.
Every day there is a Pot-Pourri there will be three brief, one-paragraph reviews, each based on one hearing, of artists/bands and their latest songs, including sample tracks from EPs and albums as appropriate.
Another new innovation just for this section is an ‘out of 10’ judgement (I won’t say ‘mark’, this isn’t a competition.
So here we go.
Annika Wickihalder (Sweden) – Better in the sun (single/track from forthcoming EP)
I’m sure it is, Annika. I’m not certain of her nationality; she’s lived in Spain as well as Sweden and found fame in the latter by way of the Swedish Idol competition in which she finished third in 2021. Her last song was a sad power pop ballad but this one puts on a happier face as the title suggests, implying there are good thing to cherish amongst the bad. She worked with Emil Gustafsson, the front man of Urban Cone to write her EP from which this song comes. She’s got a wide vocal range and moves seamlessly around it. The song is happy, upbeat and feel-good and is released just in time for your summer holidays! Don’t forget your Factor 50.
7/10
‘Better in the sun’ was released on May 5th. The EP will be released on June 2nd, 2023 via Jubel.
Find her on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wickihalder
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wickihalder/
LOW-RES (Sweden) – Kitchen (single/track from forthcoming album)
Swedish duo LOW-RES deliver here the final cut, ‘Kitchen’, from their new album ‘Därför’, collaborating with Maria Pettersson and Calle Olsson. They say ‘Kitchen’ is “about driving up the country, playing music together and being nervous about socialising.” The problems these Gen-Zers have! There influences are 90s ambient guitars and analog synthesisers. And they attempt to correlate the “music from bygone eras like krautrock, early electronic pop/rock and psychedelia which are alive and well in modern-day Sweden.” They call it ‘art therapy’ – music that works as an anti-depressant. ‘Kitchen’ rattles along at a fair pace and does exactly what it says on the tin, wrapping up electronic pop from the 80s with more than a hint of psych. They might not care for socialising but flag them down and take a ride anyway.
‘Därför’ and previous album ‘Varför’ are physically bound together on a vinyl release combining them into a double album that was released on 5th May. ‘Kitchen’ was released on 21st April.
7/10
Find them on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lowressthlm
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lowressthlm/
Lights A.M (Norway) – Not ready for this (single/track from forthcoming album)
Lights A.M. (meaning ‘after midnight’) is a Norwegian experimental cinematic ambient electronic band. That’s a bit of a mouthful but it’s accurate too. The intro to ‘Not ready for this’ sounds like Dr Who’s Tardis warming up for a journey through another time warp, accompanied by jungle drums and then that sort of synthesised sound which typically accompanies more sophisticated sci-fi films. Imagine there was a third ‘Space Odyssey’ film, one which revealed God at the end. You get the idea. That they somehow manage to tack a flute in the final bar (unless it’s a synthesised one of course) is marvellous. Their PR includes a quote from Kraftwerk: “Music is a medium that can transport you to another dimension, painting images with sound and giving life to the emotions within us.” Well this does for sure.
The track is available now on streaming services. On June 23rd, Lights A.M’s debut album, ‘Stories without Words vol. 1’, which was released in 2021, will be reissued on CD for the first time. Their second album, ‘Clouds’, which was originally released in July 2022 only in digital format, will now also be released on CD. We haven’t finished yet. ‘Stories without Words vol. 2’ from which ‘Not ready for this’ is taken, will also be released on June 23rd via Alfa Matrix, both on CD and as a download. This album is the second part of the band’s instrumental concept album series that follows where the first volume left off. Alles klar?
Are you ready for this?
8/10
Find them on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lightsaftermidnight
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lightsaftermidnight/
