Swedish act LOW-RES has repeatedly shown that they master the bleak and decadent darkness. On October 4th, they release their long-awaited album Happiness, their most melodic effort to date. Yet, beneath the distorted guitars, a darkness lingers, shaped by personal experiences of abuse and domestic violence.
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/1oZ96CVgAe03XYOkV3gIMO?si=RXSzQifERdy1xzCfdF8GPg
Bandcamp: https://low–res.bandcamp.com/album/happiness
The physical album is a hand numbered limited edition of 100 copies with hand-painted artwork and green and yellow vinyl swirls. If you are interested you can order the album here: https://adrian-recordings.myshopify.com/products/low-res-happiness
Happiness is an album that unites polar opposites – light vs. darkness, hope vs. despair. It opens with the melodically jangly Wish, where the band explores the longing for connection and the frustration of missed opportunities. Lines like ”You talk, I drift away / I don’t hear one word you say” capture the feeling of being on the verge of something great, yet watching it slip away. This sense of longing and loss is further explored in the bittersweet High-Five, where memories of fleeting moments of bliss are overshadowed by an abrupt ending.
On Ride, the focus shifts to the tug-of-war between love and doubt, conveyed through a heavy, lumbering soundscape. Maria Lindén from I Break Horses (Bella Union) contributes with her ethereal vocals, and Jukka Rintamäki from the cult band Silverbullit also plays cello and synthesiser.
”The album is called Happiness. Because it sounds so lame, and at the same time it’s the opposite of what the lyrics are about. Although there is a longing there, for happiness.” say Patrick Alvarsson and Simon Appel, who make up the band. No matter how contradictory it may seem, they manage to maintain a smooth line through all the emotional swings, without losing their edge. The result is a whole that feels honest and unadulterated, without any superfluous layers.
On Keflavik, the duo delve deeper into the melancholic nature of closure, with the haunting repetition of ”I hear the echoes,” symbolising lingering memories of what once was. At the same time, Give Me Something For The Soul depicts the desperation of clinging to a relationship which takes more than it gives, as expressed in the line, ”All is dark when you’re around.”. It’s a delicate dance between two opposing poles, where the complex reality of codependency is fleshed out, while uplifting melodies fill the soundscape.
The album’s penultimate track, Goodbye, is a hypnotic journey through the experience of emotionally detaching from the past and embracing change. The echoing chorus, ”Baby, you can’t hold me back, I’m already gone” captures this sense of liberation, but as always, you catch glimpses of the void between the words.
LOW-RES has previously been picked up by BBC Radio 6 and praised by the likes of Swedish magazine GAFFA who described their debut album as “oceans of creativity pumping out of the speakers, with each song carrying its own story and sound.”. Happiness was produced by the band and Daniel ”Fagge” Fagerström (Viagra Boys, Baba Stiltz, Kite) and will be released digitally on October 4th, along with a limited edition of 100 hand-painted vinyl copies featuring green and yellow swirls, available through Adrian Recordings.
