047 - Keep it to yourself (feat. Gustaf Spetz)

Check out the brand new 047 single "Keep it to yourself", featuring guest vocals from Gustaf Spetz (ex-Eskju Divine). Recommended!

047 prep new single

Swedish bitpop act 047 will be releasing the new single "Keep it to yourself" featuring guest vocals from Gustaf Spetz (Eskju Divine) on August 31. I've been fortunate enough to hear a preview and it's great!

Gustaf Spetz - Burn it, crush it, smash it (video)

Check out Gustaf Spetz' new video for "Burn it, crush it, smash it": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_73O_ew8NU&fmt=18

This week's Last.fm chart

Here is the It's a Trap! listening group top 10 artists of the week, unique to our group:

01. A Camp
02. Frida Hyvönen
03. Fever Ray
04. Håkan Hellström
05. Jens Lekman
06. Anna Ternheim
07. Hello Saferide
08. Loney, Dear
09. Kent
10. Gustaf Spetz

Do you listen to music on your computer or with an iPod? Please join us and make your playlist count! Go here to learn more: http://www.last.fm/help/

Gustaf Spetz on tour in Japan

Gustaf Spetz will tour Japan in May:

05/04 - O-Nest, Tokyo
05/05 - UrBANGUILD, Kyoto
05/06 - 2nd Line, Osaka
05/08 - O-Nest, Tokyo

Gustaf Spetz - Burn it, crush it, smash it

Gustaf Spetz (ex-Eskju Divine) is streaming a new track at myspace called "Burn it, crush it, smash it": http://www.myspace.com/gustafspetz

Gustaf Spetz (ex-Eskju Divine) has a couple new tracks up at myspace, including a guitar-based number: http://www.myspace.com/gustafspetz

Following the departure of frontman Gustaf Spetz who left to pursue a solo career, the remaining members of Eskju Divine have formed a new band with members of Pg.Lost and Khoma vocalist Jan Jämte called Jeudah. Go here for more: http://www.myspace.com/jeudah

Swedish piano-based indie trio Eskju Divine has broken up and frontman Gustaf Spetz is going solo. His debut album "Good night Mr Spetz" will be out on January 28 via his old label Imperial Recordings (José González, Promise and the Monster) with the first single "You and me" preceding it on December 29. Listen at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/gustafspetz

David Åhlén (Namur) will be working on a new solo album this summer to be released under his own name sometime in early 2008: http://thehourislate.blogspot.com/2007/03/ny-skiva-p-g.html
Gustaf Spetz (Eskju Divine), Krister Linder (fd Dive) and Tobias Åhlén will lend a hand and Andreas Runeson will produce.

MP3: Eskju Divine - Hold on

I like Eskju Divine a lot, but I don't love them. Their epic melancholy rock is quite distinctive, not just for their unique instrumentation (keys/bass/drums), but also for frontman Gustaf Spetz's plaintive wail. I've always enjoyed the way his voice soars along with the music, complimenting eachother perfectly. So why isn't it a love-match? It's something I have a hard time justifying myself. I usually love dreamy pop like this, but it's almost too light and airy, so much so as the individual tracks tend to blend into one another. There are standouts such as the single "Hold on" which I've posted today, but when taken as a whole, the album "Heights" tends to be a bit too atmospheric for it's own good. I enjoy it fine whenever I have it on, but I have a hard time remembering any highlights. Taken one song at a time, it fares much better.

Eskju Divine - Hold on

Eskju Divine - Darkness all around (Imperial Recordings)
The melody of the first song sounds very similar the opening track on Tiger Lou's album, but it's taken in a much more polyphonic and embellished direction. Lead singer/songwriter Gustaf Spetz's voice has a similar timbre to Tiger as well. Both play excellent melancholic pop music, but Eskju Divine adds much more bombast and reverb to the proceedings. The wall-of-sound production also lends them a much more dreamy vibe, which is both good and bad. Good because it makes even the most simple passages of music more powerful, but bad because it also means the EP can pass by without leaving much of an impression, if not being listened to at full volume. This piano, bass and drums trio never falters for lack of a guitar either. In fact, it never even occured to me that the instrument wasn't there until I read the group's bio. Good stuff.

Eskju Divine
Darkness all around
Imperial Recordings

The melody of the first song sounds very similar the opening track on Tiger Lou's album, but it's taken in a much more polyphonic and embellished direction. Lead singer/songwriter Gustaf Spetz's voice has a similar timbre to Tiger as well. Both play excellent melancholic pop music, but Eskju Divine adds much more bombast and reverb to the proceedings. The wall-of-sound production also lends them a much more dreamy vibe, which is both good and bad. Good because it makes even the most simple passages of music more powerful, but bad because it also means the EP can pass by without leaving much of an impression, if not being listened to at full volume. This piano, bass and drums trio never falters for lack of a guitar either. In fact, it never even occurred to me that the instrument wasn't there until I read the group's bio. Good stuff.
- Avi Roig