mp3: solander – looking for gold
mp3: solander – prayer to god (shellac cover)

this one caught me by surprise. likely due to the band’s name, i had been under the impression that fredrik was more or less the solo project of fredrik karlsson. turns out, it’s actually a  full band effort that just happens to bear his name. (and just to avoid confusion, when i say fredrik below i am referring to the band, not the person)

solander is what i had thought fredrik was… fredrik karlsson accompanied by a rotating cast of fellow swedish musicians, including members of fredrik, vit päls, audrey, scraps of tape and testbild. and now solander has got a debut album, since we are pigeons, coming out october 16 on a tenderversion recording.

while the two projects will surely have a lot in common, there appear to be some key differences. fredrik’s debut seemed to put equal focus on melody and atmosphere, using beautifully layered arrangements to transport the listener to a sometimes dark, but ultimately peaceful realm. solander looks to be taking a more traditional songwriting approach — these are lyrically driven pop songs, heavy on the melody and boosted by karlsson’s gift for instrumentation.

arriving late in 2008, fredrik’s debut na na ni ended up becoming one of my favorite albums of the year and i’ve got high hopes that solander’s debut will take the same path. check out a few streaming outakes from the album, in addition to the songs above here.

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