Alt-Pop Quartet Ålesund Return with ‘Lightning’

Following up on the 2020 release of their second EP ‘All Hail To Your Queen’, Bristol-based atmospheric Alt-Pop quartet Ålesund return with ‘Lightning’, the first single, taken from their upcoming EP ‘A Thread In The Dark’, due for release Spring 2021. The increasingly expansive, hauntingly cinematic track is due for release on February 26th, with the music video following soon after on March 5th.

After the untimely curtailing of their European Tour in Spring 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Ålesund traveled back to the UK feeling uncertain. Although things were going so well with a new offering and an extensive touring and festival schedule to get stuck into, the timing of the unplanned hiatus was less than ideal. Rather than take it to heart, the group’s vocalist and songwriter Alba Torriset retreated to her hometown of Hastings to try and reconnect with music in a positive way. 

 “With all the negativity in the world, I wanted to create something uplifting and optimistic,” she says. There’s been so much this year: Covid, BLM, Extinction Rebellion, the US elections. Things were hard enough without summing it all up in song form.” So instead the four-track EP ‘A Thread In The Dark’ was created. Alba and guitarist Lloyd Starr started to put together demos with a euphoric and festival-tinged edge. They then engaged with long term collaborator and producer Jake Bright to help build the record.  “Making this kept us all moving,” says Alba. “Trying to bring a bit of light into our lives was important. The experience of spending some time together and really focusing on something in detail was essential for us. If music is supposed to do anything, it brings people together. We hope when people listen to our latest offering it brings some happiness and hope!”

This is the first time that a batch of songs has been created in this way for the band. Due to the inability to all be in the same room, Alba tried her hand at Logic and demoed her ideas to send to the others. She went back to basics creating rhythm and texture by layering up clapping and even using wooden spoons to get the percussive sounds she was after. She also layered up lots of backing vocals to flesh out her ideas. These all became features within the record and the rest of the band liked how the lockdown restrictions had actually pushed the sound forward in ways it perhaps wouldn’t have if they had all been able to jam the ideas in the same room.

Lyrically, the songs all look at the bigger pictures of life. Being so still and so quiet in lockdown meant you could hear and see things that would have previously passed you by. The usual hustle and bustle of life can drown things out, but with everything and everyone stopping, it brought a magnificent clarity. Hearing the birds sing, watching the trees blossom, following the cycles of the full moon. Thinking more about what is real, what is important, human instincts, human interactions, the natural world, and how we all work together within it.  

The EP’s lead single ‘Lightning’ is due for release on February 26th. Commenting on the track Alba states: “Lightning was written about that feeling you have before making a big life decision, or waiting for another to make that decision which will, in turn, impact your own life. When you just need to pluck up the courage and take the plunge into the unknown; However, if you truly trust and believe in something, good things will come out of it.”

Lightning is due for release February 26th and will be available on all major platforms. We look forward to sharing further news but, in the meantime, visit the following links for info on the band.

Images, courtesy of Memphia Music

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Occhi

Film. Music. Art. Culture. Entertainment. Interviews. Reviews. Media. News. Journalism. Based in New York. Accessed Globally. Pronounced (OH-KEE).

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