‘My Heartbeat Keeps Me Awake’ by The Casual Sexists

Posted on by
Reply

On March 7 of 2021, I did a favourable review of the song ‘My Heartbeat Keeps Me Awake’ by The Casual Sexists.  I commented that I was hooked by the lyrics:

“My heartbeat keeps me awake 

Repeating information that I already know.”

Putting our brains on an endless loop as we fight to get some sleep.”

Yeah, I’ve been there and done that—more than once.

“I dance, although I feel like I could die.”

The music lifts my spirits when my brain wants to curl up in a corner and make the world go away. The music compelled me to get up and dance, and those moments, those three-minute songs, keep me going. They give me life instead of dying. And “I dance although I feel like I could die.”

I call the lyrics on ‘My Heartbeat Keeps Me Awake’ anthems to the aging. Aging is a constant reality from the moment we are born till the day we die. It is happening to every one of us, every minute. And The Casual Sexists have fun with it.

I give them a hearty thumbs up for the single ‘My Heartbeat Keeps Me Awake’.

Fast forward to Thursday, April 29, 2021, and I am listening to the debut album from The Casual Sexists, Your Prescription Is Ready.  If you thought ‘My Heartbeat Keeps Me Awake’ was good, get ready to have your mind blown. Londoner Ed Zed and New Yorker Varrick have crafted a worldwide favourite with their new full-length album.

Your Prescription Is Ready keeps me awake, never mind the heartbeats that do the same. As an aging rock and roller, Your Prescription Is Ready struck a chord with me. I hear ‘Your Prescription Is Ready, from the pharmacist far more times than I did when I was a young whippersnapper. However, when it comes to the album, Your Prescription Is Ready, I haven’t reached the point of hearing it far more times than I can deal with. I need to start counting how many times I listen to an album before I post it. For this timeless piece of music, I will take a shot at it being around 20 listens.

I say timeless because I can hear influences, zephyr-like at times but none the less significant enough to trigger my reminiscence bump. The one that immediately jumped out at me was The B-52’s, a band that played some very sophisticated music and had fun doing it. Other tips of the hat go to Gary Numan and The Friends of Mr Cairo by Jon and Vangelis.

Enough of the flashback’s, The Casual Sexists have crafted an excellent bit of music. It that will undoubtedly generate new reminiscence bumps for those who take the time to put this album on at the roller rink and seer it into fresh brain matter. Seriously, you don’t have to be at a roller rink to enjoy this album. You can listen on the commute through your earbuds. You can listen at home dancing while you do cleaning, it makes the dreary fun. You can listen anywhere it strikes your fancy, the joy of living in the digital age. It doesn’t matter where you listen; just listen. The Casual Sexists, Your Prescription Is Ready is an excellent bit of music and deserves repeated hits of the repeat button. The album will follow dancehall the singles ‘My Heartbeat Keeps Me Awake’, ‘Fresh Legs’ and The Casual Sexists glitch-pop rendition of ‘Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’’.

Your Prescription Is Ready will be out on May 7 2021, via It’s Hurting My

Feelings. I would be amiss to not mention the album artwork. I love it.

www.thecasualsexists.com

https://www.instagram.com/thecasualsexists/

https://twitter.com/casualsexists

https://www.facebook.com/TheCasualSexists

For all press enquiries, please contact megan@mysticsons.com

Distant Voices/Long Road To Home

Posted on by
Reply

The album cover shown above is from the recording Long Road To Home by Distant Voices. The reason that I am cutting and pasting, instead of gushing superlatives over this magnificent recording. It is the fact that Valdis Stekelis, the creator of this record, can add background and filler that I could not do.

Begin the paste.

Distant Voices is the solo project of Valdis Stekelis, who wrote and began writing these tracks in 2019, finally finishing a year later due to the delayed realities of the UK lockdown. The band name itself was chosen during that period to reflect these unusual times, where live music (as we have previously experienced it) is a scarce occurrence and where we consume music with a less personal connection to the people making it. ‘Stranger Among Friends’ is one of nine tracks released on Distant Voices’ debut album ‘Long Road To Home’, all inspired by Stekelis’ travels in the pre-Covid era. Earlier, he previewed the high-velocity rock n’ roll lead single ‘Lights of The City’ with an accompanying video by Alit Gonzalez. “Stranger Among Friends emerged from the feeling of being homesick and just general events that happened while I was visiting Berlin. Certain themes crop up throughout the album, like meeting people for a while and then saying goodbye and never seeing them again. Brexit was on my mind when I took this trip. I went to see the European Parliament and the UN in Geneva for this reason,” says Valdis Stekelis. “At the end of the trip, I had a strong sense that this travel would not happen again in the way it did due to the point I was at in life, but I did not realise that everything would be restricted in the way we are now with Covid (and) lockdowns. I am very pleased retrospectively that I chose to do it when I did, and it seems more significant than before to me in light of where we are now”. The ‘Long Road To Home’ LP was recorded at EAS Studios near London in collaboration with producer-engineer Ed Sokolowski, known for his work on albums by Melanie C, Fleur East, Hugel, David Archuleta and Lukas Rieger. Sokolowki mixed and mastered this album, as well as co-producing it with Stekelis. Joe Montague also contributes drums on multiple tracks.

“This is the first body of work completed under the Distant Voices name, which I am very keen for people to hear and hope that they will enjoy it. The album was inspired by events that happened during my journey around Europe in 2019, and, in fact, they appear chronologically in the tracklisting,” says Valdis Stekelis. “There is a range of different feeling tracks on the album – from lively to melancholy and also psychedelic. They are tied together – both in terms of the subject matter and also due to the underlying elements of a retro feel with electronic flavour. It was a lot of fun to make and is truly inspired by events that really affected me at the time”.

See, I told you so. Valdis Stekelis did such an excellent job of summing the recording up that there is little that I could add. I will, however, attempt to add something. I feel an affinity for this recording from the first guitar strums at the lead-in at track one side one, Lights Of The City. The jangling guitar lulled me in, and then Distant Voices kicked the volume up a notch and started the rock and roll show. The music sounds familiar and fresh at the same time. It’s like buying a new cardigan. I know what a cardigan is, how it feels, how it fits, but the new one is different, and I like it. The Long Road To Home is something like that. Familiar and fresh and I like it.

I appreciate the inclusion of the travelogue itinerary for my next European vacation. Each track has a story to tell, and each track retains its own musical DNA, unique but a part of the whole.

ALBUM TRACKLISTING 01. Lights Of The City 02. Stranger Among Friends 03. Walk Along The Cobblestones 04. I Need A Friend 05. Nothing Really Happened In Vienna 06. Halfway To Rome 07. View From Lake Geneva 08. Last Night In Amsterdam 09. I’m Coming Home Keep up with Distant Voices 

‘Stranger Among Friends’ https://youtu.be/EI4Ds7EG4QI

Bandcamp https://distantvoices1.bandcamp.com/album/long-road-to-home

‘Lights of The City’ single https://youtu.be/iocT4eqi90U

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/2NHL30cx1DRGEGJ71PyKKs

Apple Music https://music.apple.com/us/album/lights-of-the-city-single/1552049295

Soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/distantvoicesuk/lights-of-the-city

If you have any questions, contact Shauna from Shameless Promotion PR at contact@shamelesspromotionpr.com

The Modesty Blaise

Posted on by
Reply

Spring has sprung
The Modesty Blaise
Have played and sung

And I have listened, now I want to go driving in the sunshine with the window down and The Modesty Blaise providing the soundtrack for the summer.

The companions for this road trip are Jonny Collins doing vocals, David W Brown with the driving bass, Gregory Jones is playing tasteful guitars, Mark Bradley keeping everyone on time with his drum kit, Alastair Jenkins playing more guitars, and Roger MacDuff stringing us along on violins.

Jörn Elling Wuttke mixed the album at Klangfabrik Frankfurt. Thank you, Jörn; you have captured the essence of Modesty Blaise. This long-awaited third album comes to us via the German label
From Lo-Fi to Disco!

It is hard to believe that this is the first album from Modesty Blaise in twenty years. Yes, twenty, I know! It has been worth the wait, though, because they have filtered those twenty years into a beautiful slab of music.


The music is catchy and infectious. In a good way! I dare you to listen to this music without tapping your foot, nodding your head or having an insane desire to go driving. All six of the players came to the studio with their best, and I can easily hear it. This record is good stuff.


One of the highlight tracks for me is Rollerdisco. If you want to talk about flashback songs, this is a hit. It takes me back about 40 years to the roller rink; I would have loved to skate to this. It would fit in just lovely with Rock Lobster and Saturday Night by the Bay City Rollers. r.i.p. Les McKeown.
I would encourage listeners to listen to this album, not just casual background noise listening. Intentional listening. Listen for the lyrics; they are right smart and provide an excellent counterpoint to the happy music. Please pay attention to the different instruments and how they convey the message of the lyrics. This album deserves more than a casual listen and then moving on to the next album suggested by the streaming platform of your choice. Hit repeat and listen to The Modesty Blais again. And again. And then buy they album. And listen again.

It is available on vinyl from one of my favourite record shops in the UK, Rough Trade. https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/the-modesty-blaise/the-modesty-blaise
In Japan, you can purchase the album from Disk Union.
https://diskunion.net/indiealt/ct/detail/1008277960
In Germany, hhv take care of it. https://www.hhv.de/shop/de/artikel/modesty-blaise-the-the-modesty-blaise- 804627
‘The Modesty Blaise’ LP is out now, available digitally everywhere, including Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon.
Keep up with Modesty Blaise:
http://www.modestyblaise.net
https://modestyblaiseuk.bandcamp.com
http://www.facebook.com/themodestyblaise
http://www.instagram.com/modestyblaiseuk
http://twitter.com/modestyblaiseuk
https://soundcloud.com/modesty-blaise-8 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4lnNm8g0IYG9H90ZIzsOZw/videos https://www.amazon.com/Modesty-Blaise/e/B000APKJ5Q/digital/ref=ntt_mp3_rdr https://music.apple.com/us/artist/modesty-blaise/202798092 https://open.spotify.com/artist/43AImLU4e6BbljTmC2bFu5
If you have any questions, contact Shauna from Shameless Promotion PR at contact@shamelesspromotionpr.com

Nick Hudson/Font Of Human Fractures

Posted on by
Reply

“Voyeurs Who Offer Nothing” is the opening track from the new album Font Of Human Fractures by Nick Hudson. I don’t know a lot about Nick Hudson, but I know that he has something to offer. What he is offering is the first solo album from him in five years. It’s not like he has been sitting on his hands for the last five years. Nick Hudson is a busy person, recording with The Academy of Sun, painting, doing film work, and if that isn’t enough, he just finished writing a novel. Hudson has also collaborated with Wayne Hussey of The Mission, and Matthew Seligman (Bowie, Tori Amos, Morrissey) and members of NYC’s Kayo Dot, David Tibet (Current 93), Asva and Canadian queercore icon GB Jones. As part of the band, The Academy Of Sun, he collaborated with Massive Attack’s Shara Nelson. Whew, I get tired just writing his bio.

Font Of Human Fractures is an interesting name for an album or anything when I stop thinking about it. Font, a source of a desirable quality or commodity. That part makes sense to me; Nick Hudson’s music is undoubtedly a desirable commodity. It was recorded and mastered at Church Road Studios by Paul Pascoe (Barry Adamson, Beat Hotel); this 10-track offering is Hudson’s first solo studio LP since ‘Ganymede In A State Of War’ (2016).

Font Of Human Fractures is a mesmerizing album. From the opening moments of the first song, Voyeurs Who Offer Nothing, the music that Nick Hudson has created kept me glued to my speakers. Forty minutes later, I was listening to those opening moments again, and forty minutes later…you get the drift. This album’s primary weapon of choice is the piano with tasteful accompaniment by violin(s), the voice of Nick Hudson, some fascinating samples and background vocals, as well as a church organ, round out the arsenal. I can’t describe the sounds, the music is fresh and at times startling; you have to hear it for yourself. It has elements that would not be out of place in True Detective (Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson). 

I’ll let Nick Hudson tell you more:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXPXQg-sj70
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxhR48f2kes

Bottom line, I developed a fascination for this album that made me curiouser and curiouser every time I listened to it.

Bottom of the bottom line, I will keep listening to this album, and you should do yourself a favour and buy it on Bandcamp.

As of April 30, the ‘Font of Human Fractures’ album will be available on vinyl and digitally
via Spotify and Apple Music. Both are also available directly from the artist via Bandcamp.

Keep up with Nick Hudson / The Academy of Sun

Facebook | Bandcamp | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Music | Booking | Press contact

Keep up with Shameless Promotion PR

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Soundcloud | Instagram | LinkedIn | Email

VIDEOS

‘Come Back When There’s Nothing Left’ https://youtu.be/UlXla5YJYLQ

‘Surkov’s Dream’ https://youtu.be/2vwSuA3Lmj8

‘There is No Such Thing as You’ (live in Sophia)

https://youtu.be/riJ5qsSHutg

‘Surkov’s Dream’ single teaser https://youtu.be/U4VZkqsEWJU 

Shameless Promotion PR 

REPLY TO contact@shamelesspromotionpr.com

Babel

Posted on by
Reply

Have you ever listened to an album, and it sinks its hooks in? You can’t stop listening to that album. I have slabs of vinyl that I am sure I have ground the grooves a few millimetres deeper. Dark Side of the Moon is an example of that.

In iTunes, I have albums that I put on repeat and, over time, accumulate an insane amount of listens to that one piece of music. Giles Corey’s self-titled album is an example of that in my recent playlists.

I do a few music reviews, and some of the bands are amazing. I put them on repeat because I like them and not just because I want to write a gushing review. Recently I was offered the opportunity to listen to a new EP called Honeyspell. It is from the Finnish duo Mikko Pykäri and Karin Mäkiranta, who goes by the moniker Babel.

It did not sink its hooks into me. I did, however, put it on repeat. I desperately wanted to understand this music. I still don’t. I want to write a gushing review, but I am unable to do that.

I am sure others would wax poetically about this EP, and I want to, but alas, I can not do that. I hear a wash of synths that overpower the mix, and I can’t hear the vocals enough. I am not particularly fond of how Karin Mäkiranta’s vocals were processed. I am sure she has a lovely voice, but it does not come across that way in my ears. Others have described her vocals as ethereal, and I can understand why they would say that, but they still don’t put a spell on me.

The synth processing would work well as some ambient soundtrack, but I found it overpowering the mix. The percussion moves along right smartly; no complaint there. I can hear guitar playing occasionally, and I would have liked more of it not washed over by the mix. I can pick out bass lines every so often. I can’t tell if it’s a bass guitar or synthesized, but I found it lost in the mix once again.

In summary, I think Babel can make some good music. They are on SoundCloud, Spotify and iTunes, so they must be doing something right. However, it is not sweet music to my ears.
I want to end this on a positive note. I liked the cover art, and I think Mikko Pykäri and Karin Mäkiranta are talented musicians who will only get better moving forward. I look forward to their first full-length album, Yoga Horror, which comes out in 2022.

https://soundcloud.com/pmerecords/sets/babel-honeyspell/s-IOE7iB2kCO3

https://soundcloud.com/pmerecords/sets/babel-honeyspell/s-IOE7iB2kCO3

https://open.spotify.com/artist/4qrLovyKfCeNbEdN0Tmx1Q?si=IGQ_jEbrQFeH35kkG6bMkQ

https://www.facebook.com/babel2babel/

https://www.instagram.com/babel2babel/

For all press enquiries, please contact james@mysticsons.com OR megan@mysticsons.com

When I Fall From The Sky

Posted on by
Reply

It seems like forever since I fell in love with the song “In A Million Years” by the band Misty Coast, the dream-pop child of Linn Frøkedal and Richard Myklebust, known from the Norwegian noise rock act The Megaphonic Thrift. It was, in fact, September of 2020, not forever but a few moments ago. My closing comment about that song was, “I give it five stars, this is a lovely little song, and I hope I get to hear it in a full-length album soon. I don’t want to wait a million years.” It turns out that I didn’t have to wait a million years, only six months, give or take a million minutes.


So, fast forward to today, and I get to listen through the entire album, “When I Fall From The Sky”. The song “In A Million Years” has not lost its lustre and fits very comfortably amid all the other magical music moments on this album.


The opening track, Switch Off, was picked as the opener based on the guitar hooks and the opening vocal line. Switch Off is a psychedelic throwback with nods to the Beatles circa Sgt. Peppers. Misty Coast also drew psychedelic inspiration from the band Quilt. Stereolab gets a nod for influencing the title, are they switched on or off? Now I have to listen to Sgt. Pepper, Quilt and Stereolab to properly research this blog, such is the nature of the sacrifice that I make for music.

Next up in the queue is a catchy little pop song that the producer of this fine album, Emil Nikolaisen, calls “the Cardigans song.” Queue up the Cardigans now; thanks a lot Misty Coast for expanding my listening coastline.

And this brings us to a reprise of the song, In A Million Years, which was my initial introduction to Misty Coast. This track still shine from a million light years away in the six months since I first listened to it.

We then roll through a Ghost Town, experience Jet Lag, and a trip down memory lane in the song ’92, with guest vocalist Hilma Nikolaisen. She is the sister of the album producer Emil Nikolaisen, and she also plays the bass for Serena-Maneesh, a Norwegian alternative rock band from Oslo. Misty Coast tells us that the lyrics for ’92 make jokes about indie heads stuck in the ’90s, with their flannel shirts and bitter for not dying at 27 like all their music heroes.

We then swallow a musical gem called “Sugar Pill” that builds from a minimalist start to a mind-blowing psychedelic mishmash of guitars and synthesizers. I love it!

The next song is fun. The title is “Fun”. The arrangement is delightful; producer Emil Nikolaisen turned the song into a fun bit of psychedelic imagery that revolves around the theme of social anxiety. I never thought social anxiety was fun, but you will get the drift if you listen to the song lyrics.


And then the album, When I Fall From The Sky, closes with the songs “Do You Still Remember Me?” and the title track. Yes, I still remember Misty Coast, and I encourage you, the reader, to give this album a listen. Available where fine music is presented with a thank you to the label Fysisk Format and our friends at Mystic Sons.

Pools “You & Us”

Posted on by
Reply

Pools are a collaboration between the Swedish duo Fredrik Forell and Arvid Hällagård, and they have pooled their talents as the musical collaboration of “Pool”. Together they have made their debut album, ‘You & Us’, which is set to be released on 14th May 2021 via Something Beautiful.

Arvid handles the lead vocals with a voice that sent chills up and down my spine. His vocal style has an almost haunted quality which serves him well on tracks such as the opener “Grave”. About the album’s title track, Arvid says, “These are some thoughts about how she and I felt during the relationship, how you have to handle yourself, and at the same time an ‘Us’. Mostly it’s about how hard a relationship can be, having a first kid. You expect it to be in a certain way, and the disappointment when those expectations turn out to be unreal.”

Fredrik Forell mixes in music that verges on Americana folk but opens up new sounds that left me wondering “what the hell was that”?!

I love it! If iTunes had grooves, I would have worn out this album by now. The lyrics and music combine to create a portrait of pain. “You and Us” walks us through the journey of love, love lost, love that never was and love that needs room to grow.

A killer track on “You and Us” that caught my ear was “By The Old Moon”. It was an instant earworm for me. Take what sounds like a banjo and then add some sound samples, mix them all with the remorseful lyrics, and you get a song that keeps me hitting the repeat button. 

I could go on and on waxing poetically about the songs, the music and the sheer brilliance of this album, but I will let “You & Us” speak for itself. Check out the singles “By the Old Noon”, “Looking For Trouble”, and “Walk” speak for themselves on your music platform of choice; I used Apple Music. And then tune in for the album to drop on 14th May via Something Beautiful recordings.

Brilliant, absolutely brilliant.

D I S C O V E R

https://www.facebook.com/poolstheband

https://www.instagram.com/poolstheband/

https://open.spotify.com/artist/4bcbIKU2rCjMoNim9Icn6t

For press enquiries, contact james@mysticsons.com or dan@mysticsons.com

Dead Can Dance

Posted on by
Reply

Dead Can Dance members Lisa Gerrard and Jules Maxwell have teamed up under a new guise with James Chapman (MAPS) to create a studio album, titled ‘Burn’. The record began its journey more than seven years ago, when Lisa met Irish theatre composer Jules Maxwell before working together for the first time. ‘Burn’ is set for release on 7th May 2021 via Atlantic Curve. 

Speaking about the origins of the album, Lisa Gerrard explains, “It is with great pleasure that I share this collaboration with Jules Maxwell. Jules and I began our creative journey with Dead Can Dance. We realised that we could connect through improvisation and that musical exploration continues to evolve with this present work.”

Although this record is a new release, its beginnings go all the way back to 2012 during that year’s Dead Can Dance world tour. Originally brought in as a live keyboard player, Jules Maxwell helped create a new song with Lisa Gerrard called ‘Rising Of The Moon’, which was performed as the final encore of each show. By the time the tour finished in Chile in 2013, a strong affinity had begun to develop between the two of them and further opportunities to collaborate with each other resulted over subsequent years. 

In 2015, when Maxwell was asked to submit songs for the Bulgarian choir The Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices (Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares), he approached Gerrard to co-write material and travelled to Australia to work with her in her home studio. The pair came away with four new songs for that release, as well as the building blocks for this new venture together.

Jules describes the introduction to James Chapman.

“About a year later, over dinner in Sofia after a concert by the Bulgarian women, my publisher suggested to me that I work with James Chapman on completing the BURN songs. James had established a sound with his band MAPS, which also had big horizons at its core, and it seemed like an intriguing proposition to me.”

With Chapman joining the duo as producer, ideas began to be generated freely and over time a distinct sound for their work began to emerge. Their focus was to create a sound that was both euphoric and compelling, more inventive than what they had worked on separately in the past. From gentle beginnings, each track builds and intensifies, creating a hypnotic experience to listen to from start to finish.

With Lisa remaining in Australia, Jules adding his keys and percussion from France, and James bringing new light to the sound from England, the three were literally worlds apart, but those worlds fused in the music.

Recently, Jules Maxwell also released his debut solo album ‘Songs From The Cultural Backwater’, Lisa Gerrard received a Grammy nomination and returned to Dead Can Dance to release the group’s critically praised ninth studio full-length ‘Dionysus’, and James Chapman released MAPS 4th full-length album ‘Colours. Reflect. Time. Loss’.

Stylistically, the new album ‘Burn’ is a diverse mix of electronica, alternative, cinematic soundscape and world music with hints of early Vangelis. Accumulatively, this is a stunning departure for all three of them. 

Lisa Gerrard and Jules Maxwell’s new album ‘Burn’ will be available as of 7th May 2021 via Atlantic Curve.

D I S C O V E R

https://www.facebook.com/LisaGerrardOfficial

https://twitter.com/Lisa_Gerrard

http://www.lisagerrard.com/

https://www.facebook.com/JulesMaxwellOfficial/

http://julesmaxwell.com/

Press enquiries please contact james@mysticsons.com

Street Haunting by Slow Down Molasses

Posted on by
Reply

If I have a new review or two, it must be Friday, the day that new music drops regularly. So much music and so little time, a delightful conundrum.

First up is Slow Down Molasses, from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Only a six-hour drive away from me, in Canada, that makes them practically next-door neighbours.

The press handout for Slow Down Molasses called them post-punk, which nailed it as far as genre names go. They have an exciting blend of grinding crunching guitar soundbites that jump out of intelligent lyrics and pleasant layered synth, driving bass and perfect percussion.

I would drive the six hours to hear them play live. However, in the Covid-19 times that we find ourselves in, I will content myself with listening to them over and over on Apple Music. The single “Street Haunting” was released today, April 9th, via Divine Schism.

You can go deeper with Slow Down Molasses here: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5T7p8EBAj3s9i5dxZ00S7v

and here,

https://www.instagram.com/slowdownmolasses/?hl=en

and here,

https://twitter.com/slowdownmolasse?lang=en

and here,

https://www.facebook.com/slowdownmolasses/

For all press enquiries, please contact james@mysticsons.com

The Best Paintroller Hands Down

Posted on by
Reply

Paintroller doesn’t show up as a song title very often; https://genius.com/ only had three songs with paintroller in the title. There will be four as of Friday, April 9, 2021, the music group Hands Down, fronted by Filip Sjögren, will be dropping their new single with the title “Paintroller” on that day.

Sjögren took 2020 off from his vocation as a sound technician and producer to focus on creating music with his band Hands Down, a good call considering how that year unfolded.

The song “Paintroller” builds on the firm foundation of their first single “, Too Late”. “Paintroller” opens with Deep raucous percussive hits that segue into smooth as silk keys and synths, which lead us to the lyrical content. Filip Sjögren tells us, “The song about being coloured by everyone else”, says Sjögren, “and having your own ideas crushed by outside forces. Not feeling very welcome to the party, both in terms of music and society, feeling peer pressure. That’s what inspired the song. I had the whole song done at one point, and then I scrapped the vocal and wrote and recorded a whole new melody and vocal. That demo was called ‘paintroller’, and so that inspired me to write the new lyrics. I have no idea why that demo was called paintroller. But it is a very visual word”.

There are jazz elements woven into the fabric of the song and strings that would not be out of place in a movie soundtrack. “Paintroller” certainly showcases Filip Sjögren’s familiarity with music construction and how to bring all the diverse parts together to create a beautiful song. Well done, Mr Sjögren, well done.

‘Paintroller’ will be available to stream from April 9 via Hands Down’s label Youth Recordings. While you wait for that, you can check this out:

https://www.instagram.com/___handsdown/ 

https://www.facebook.com/handsdownswe 

For press enquiries please contact jack@mysticsons.com