One of my favorite current Swedish groups, Envelopes, are finally back with their follow-up to their 2005 debut, Demon. Titled Here Comes the Wind, the album was produced by Per Sunding who longtime indie fans might remember as the front man of '90s-era Swedish band Eggstone. (He's also produced the upcoming Research album.) He's really opened up the Envelopes' sound (slightly out-of-tune guitars, male-female vocals, shifty rhythms, big hooks) without really changing what they do. Bigger, better, but not radically different.
The band does seem to have picked up a laptop in the interim between albums. "Put on Hold" incorporates electronics into their shambolic style and I love the way it starts as something that could be released on Morr before morphing into a more typical Envelopes number. The one older song here, "Freejazz" which was a stand-alone single two years ago, has been reworked, slowed down and beefed up. The whole of Here Comes the Wind never loses it's way and is over and done with before the 40 minute mark.
MP3: Envelopes - Put on Hold
You can hear Here Comes the Wind in full if you're willing to download a desktop widget. Or you can wait till next week and download it from the usual legal download sources. It's also out on CD in Sweden and the UK next Tuesday as well but no word on an American release. And here's the video to the new single, "Party":
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Great post! Was not familiar with Envelopes. Definitely a keeper!
Posted by: Utahpolis | Tuesday, February 12, 2008 at 05:38 PM