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LP
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TR 483LP
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LP version. Since the mid-1990s, Stockholm's Last Days of April have created a succession of luminous, hook-laden LPs, earning the band's lead vocalist, guitarist, and all-around auteur, Karl Larsson, a reputation as a bonafide songwriter's songwriter. With Even The Good Days Are Bad, Larsson and co. return with their tenth long player, following 2015's Sea of Clouds (TR 316CD/LP), a shimmering collection of eight new Larsson-penned songs that show him at the apex of his craft and LDOA achieving new levels of strength, honesty, and brilliance. The album's title track is an introspective meditation that manages to be ecstatic, even anthemic. With glistening guitars, swerving synth lines, punchy drumming, burnished analog production, and Larsson's vulnerable yet resilient vocals, Even The Good Days Are Bad is at once new and old, of the moment and utterly classic, timely and timeless. Even The Good Days Are Bad began gestating in 2019, with Larsson unearthing songs dating back to the early 2000s and writing a gush of new material. The band's longtime rhythm section -- drummer Magnus Olsson and bassist Rikard Lidhamn -- joined Larsson that fall for two marathon days at Stockholm's legendary Studio Gröndahl. (LDOA have recorded several releases there, as have The Hives.) "We recorded everything in Gröndahl to tape," Larsson says of the band's preferred approach to basic tracks. "All analog and tons of outboard. Classic stuff, you know... I'm a gear nut." (Frequent collaborator Fredrik Hermansson added atmospheric mellotron to "Had Enough" and Frans Hägglund engineered.) Larsson then brought the recordings to his home studio for overdubs and general TLC, taking his time to achieve the album's rich textures. But something unexpected happened on the way to transcendent pop glory: a global pandemic. Even The Good Days Are Bad was already nearing completion, but the crisis slowed and complicated the process. More significantly, it also made the new record hauntingly, profoundly prescient. The title track now reflected the mood of the entire planet. On "Alone", Larsson channels the isolation we've all been enduring and making it better. "For lyrics," Larsson says, "I wanted them to be straightforward. No fuzz." The result is totally cathartic, just what the doctor ordered for 2021. "Let it bring whatever feelings it brings," Larsson says of Even The Good Days Are Bad, dispensing a bit of helpful advice: "It sounds best played loud."
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CD
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TR 483CD
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Since the mid-1990s, Stockholm's Last Days of April have created a succession of luminous, hook-laden LPs, earning the band's lead vocalist, guitarist, and all-around auteur, Karl Larsson, a reputation as a bonafide songwriter's songwriter. With Even The Good Days Are Bad, Larsson and co. return with their tenth long player, following 2015's Sea of Clouds (TR 316CD/LP), a shimmering collection of eight new Larsson-penned songs that show him at the apex of his craft and LDOA achieving new levels of strength, honesty, and brilliance. The album's title track is an introspective meditation that manages to be ecstatic, even anthemic. With glistening guitars, swerving synth lines, punchy drumming, burnished analog production, and Larsson's vulnerable yet resilient vocals, Even The Good Days Are Bad is at once new and old, of the moment and utterly classic, timely and timeless. Even The Good Days Are Bad began gestating in 2019, with Larsson unearthing songs dating back to the early 2000s and writing a gush of new material. The band's longtime rhythm section -- drummer Magnus Olsson and bassist Rikard Lidhamn -- joined Larsson that fall for two marathon days at Stockholm's legendary Studio Gröndahl. (LDOA have recorded several releases there, as have The Hives.) "We recorded everything in Gröndahl to tape," Larsson says of the band's preferred approach to basic tracks. "All analog and tons of outboard. Classic stuff, you know... I'm a gear nut." (Frequent collaborator Fredrik Hermansson added atmospheric mellotron to "Had Enough" and Frans Hägglund engineered.) Larsson then brought the recordings to his home studio for overdubs and general TLC, taking his time to achieve the album's rich textures. But something unexpected happened on the way to transcendent pop glory: a global pandemic. Even The Good Days Are Bad was already nearing completion, but the crisis slowed and complicated the process. More significantly, it also made the new record hauntingly, profoundly prescient. The title track now reflected the mood of the entire planet. On "Alone", Larsson channels the isolation we've all been enduring and making it better. "For lyrics," Larsson says, "I wanted them to be straightforward. No fuzz." The result is totally cathartic, just what the doctor ordered for 2021. "Let it bring whatever feelings it brings," Larsson says of Even The Good Days Are Bad, dispensing a bit of helpful advice: "It sounds best played loud."
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CD
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TR 316CD
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Since their formation in 1996, Swedish band Last Days of April has enriched the world with their enchanting indie pop. Their ninth album, Sea of Clouds, follows a series of outstanding releases. And yet the ninth studio album by this Stockholm band -- based around the songwriter Karl Larsson -- sounds so much more deliberate, mature, and balanced than ever before, while continuing the band's hunt for the timelessly beautiful Swedish pop song, in a snow flurry between Neil Young and The Lemonheads. The result is a wonderful long-player, and the group's most authentic and grounded work so far. This is surely due to the restrained instrumentation of the nine pieces. The songs are carried by acoustic guitar and piano, as well as by gently propulsive drum rhythms and immersive, reverberant guitars. It all comes together to underline Larsson's delicate, crystal-clear vocals in the most grandiose fashion. Sea of Clouds impresses with its shimmering melancholy and alternates between quiet, reverent numbers ("Sea of Clouds" and "Oh Well") and sprawling, guitar-propelled songs like "The Thunder and Storm." In between, there are charming and simply captivating pop songs/compositions (opener "The Artist" or "Everybody Knows") that have the character of classic Last Days of April hits. The pieces are always catchy, inviting the listener to dream, sometimes even to dance. In contrast to its predecessors, for Sea of Clouds the band dispensed with digital technology while recording and captured the entire album live to tape in just two and a half days, relying exclusively on analog equipment and recording without overdubs. Without countless synthesizer and guitar tracks that would create a glossy sheen, Sea of Clouds is somewhat purified and cleansed compared to previous albums such as If You Lose It (2004) or Might As Well Live (2007). The purely analog form of the recordings can only be realized in a handful of studios in Sweden or even throughout Europe. Last Days of April chose to work in the legendary Atlantis Studios in Stockholm, where bands such as ABBA or The Cardigans once cavorted. Immediately upon hearing the first few bars of the opening track "The Artist," it becomes clear that this was the perfect decision. After decades of touring around the globe, Last Days of April have delivered their strongest and truest work to date. Simply a beautiful piece of music, for faithful fans and the newly converted.
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LP+CD
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TR 316LP
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LP version. Includes CD. Since their formation in 1996, Swedish band Last Days of April has enriched the world with their enchanting indie pop. Their ninth album, Sea of Clouds, follows a series of outstanding releases. And yet the ninth studio album by this Stockholm band -- based around the songwriter Karl Larsson -- sounds so much more deliberate, mature, and balanced than ever before, while continuing the band's hunt for the timelessly beautiful Swedish pop song, in a snow flurry between Neil Young and The Lemonheads. The result is a wonderful long-player, and the group's most authentic and grounded work so far. This is surely due to the restrained instrumentation of the nine pieces. The songs are carried by acoustic guitar and piano, as well as by gently propulsive drum rhythms and immersive, reverberant guitars. It all comes together to underline Larsson's delicate, crystal-clear vocals in the most grandiose fashion. Sea of Clouds impresses with its shimmering melancholy and alternates between quiet, reverent numbers ("Sea of Clouds" and "Oh Well") and sprawling, guitar-propelled songs like "The Thunder and Storm." In between, there are charming and simply captivating pop songs/compositions (opener "The Artist" or "Everybody Knows") that have the character of classic Last Days of April hits. The pieces are always catchy, inviting the listener to dream, sometimes even to dance. In contrast to its predecessors, for Sea of Clouds the band dispensed with digital technology while recording and captured the entire album live to tape in just two and a half days, relying exclusively on analog equipment and recording without overdubs. Without countless synthesizer and guitar tracks that would create a glossy sheen, Sea of Clouds is somewhat purified and cleansed compared to previous albums such as If You Lose It (2004) or Might As Well Live (2007). The purely analog form of the recordings can only be realized in a handful of studios in Sweden or even throughout Europe. Last Days of April chose to work in the legendary Atlantis Studios in Stockholm, where bands such as ABBA or The Cardigans once cavorted. Immediately upon hearing the first few bars of the opening track "The Artist," it becomes clear that this was the perfect decision. After decades of touring around the globe, Last Days of April have delivered their strongest and truest work to date. Simply a beautiful piece of music, for faithful fans and the newly converted.
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