New Music - The Second Band

It seems appropriate to kick off my second year as a music blogger with new music from one of my favorite Swedish imports, The Second Band. Last year the very excellent (and lover of all things Swede) blog The Punk Guy provided the heads up about the band, and since that time their songs haven’t strayed from my ears for long. In the past the sound of The Second Band had such an American kick to it that recognizing them as Swedish may have been difficult if you didn’t know better. Gems like “What’s Up, Tiger Lily?” (mp3) and “A Song I Can’t Recall” (mp3) bristled with a soulful, rustic charm more akin to Okkervil River or Bright Eyes than, say, Jens Lekman, and both come highly recommended.

With the new year comes a new album (their first full-length) from the band. The Definite Form will be released by Orange Grammofon at the end of January. The 3 new songs I’ve heard from The Definite Form, however, seem to be embracing the dreamier, more orchestral music of their homeland without sacrificing the rural warmth of the past. To be sure, they’re still filled with chiming guitars and blaring horns, but these new songs forge a distinct sound for the band that isn’t as instantly identifiable as sounding like good American music. I’m sure I’ll be spending a lot of time with these songs over the next few months.

MP3 :: The Urgency of Now
MP3 :: The Future
(from The Definite Form. Buy here)
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