‘skånsk pop’? I had noticed the term from time to time, but I didn’t really look into it any further, thinking it was a sort of Swedish term for indie or dream-pop, but, after asking the good Krzysztof (of The Eastern European Synth & Post-Punk Community) for clarification, now I can say that it’s a tag indicating the pop music coming from the Southernmost Swedish province called Scania (Skåne in Swedish), that with capital Malmö for instance.
And it is really a ‘skånsk pop’ band, even if Stockholm-based, the duo named brygga tio, comprised of Felix Hessel (vocals, guitar) and Kristofer Krook (synth, bass, programming), who have just released their debut EP entitled “Solsyster” (SunSister), like the song that we have the pleasure of listening to and getting to know better.
photo by @filip.lundahl
The most rhythmic and jaunty of the lot, the title track is an imaginative and dynamic off-kilter pop tune that’s both an emotional escape from reality and a grim suggestion of real dreams unfulfilled.
Equal parts restless, upbeat, and melancholic, swaying from flat, scraping, crisp rambling guitar riffs that bounce together with the lively and jaunty rhythm section, intensified by atmospheric synth swells and an unexpected yet striking harmonica sound briefly floating, both elegant and uneasy, above, while dreamy yet anxious vocals effortlessly soothe carefree tense and lonely longings.
Energetic and fascinating, relentlessly blurring the boundaries between weary reality and ephemeral fantasy, “Solsyster” entices us wandering freely immersed in a hypnotic and seductive faraway sonic reverie, at the same time pleasant yet disturbing which, however, ends up bringing face to face with the unsettling everyday real life, with which everyone will inevitably have to reckon.
Keep up with brygga tio:
