As always there's far more releases than we can find time to cover, so here's a round up of a wide range of releases we've come across in the last few weeks, but just haven't had chance to write about in too much detail...
ASH & IRON - 'When The Storm Comes' (album)
Swedish band Ash & Iron have released an intense and intimate album entitled 'When the Storm Comes' which was released at the end of May when we were on vacation. The band was formed in 2014 by John Berneli, but has expanded to include Petter Bengtsson (also of Case Conrad) guitarist Kristofer Bergman and Sara Runberg on bass and violin. It is an Indie Folk album that has been meticulously crafted, handed woven and that has some beautiful moments, including 'Waiting for the Rain' and 'When the Storm Comes' - as shown below.
The album is available through Red Olive music, and is fairly easy to find on streaming services. For more details please see below.. Also check their Facebook page for live video versions of their tracks which they're releasing every week over the summer.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ashandiron/
BURNING HEARTS - Work of Art (single / video)
Burning Hearts are a Finnish band we haven't featured before, simply because they have not released new material since 2012, when 'Extinctions' was released - I was listening to it this morning, and you can still track it down on various streaming services. Regular readers from Finland might of course be aware of this band already. The new single is a clever pop track, which is really easy to listen to and like, and it's the first release from an up and coming album release which is due later this year. Watch 'Work of Art below, and for further details visit them at: https://burningheartsmusic.com/
STILK - 'Stilk' (album)
I like searching through Bandcamp every now and then for smaller releases which haven't caught our attention through other music publications, direct submissions, record companies and festival / gig listings. And i quickly came across 'Stilk' early this morning, who intriguingly are Norwegian but were formed in the UK last year, and have recently released a self titled album, a psychedelic folk release with some really interesting tracks on it. There are some lengthy 7 minute tracks, so be prepared for some melancholy and generally downbeat sections, but its interspersed with some nice melodies and a quirky approach to songwriting, which does appeal to me. Highlight for me so far is 'Ned Ei Ev', and you can find out more about Stilk on their Facebook page, and buy the album on Bandcamp.
TIMSHEL - 'Floating' (single)
Finally for now, we head back to a band who hail really from Vaasa Finland, but have had members from different parts of Sweden and Finland. Timshel have released a lovely summery tune called 'Floating', which is straight in the middle of the Indie Pop genre. This track has really lit up my listening playlist in the last week, which I'd packed full of post Brexit melancholy, and i heartily recommend it for yours too. It was written following the anxieties of band member departures and a record company let down, so the band retreated to a remote Finnish cottage to continue their songwriting. I like to think it is the same remote Finnish cottage that all Nordic artists seem to go to when they need inspiration. Anyway it's clearly worked, is we look forward to more material in the near future.