New song from Wan Light, first in three years

After three years of silence, Swedish indiepop act Wan Light is back with a new track streaming at myspace called "Do": http://www.myspace.com/wanlight

Wan Light is now on myspace and with a brand new song: http://www.myspace.com/wanlight

Wan Light is now keeping a blog: http://www.wanlight.blogspot.com/

Wan Light
Carmaline
Labrador

"The grim reality" is not only one of the best songs of the year, but the grim reality is also that summer's ending and this review is way too long overdue (my sincere apologies to the band who gave me this CD when they played in London ages ago). Wan Light sounds a bit like The Postal Service or a lo-fi version of The Flaming Lips (musically, but also lyrically - e.g. "The Eskimo in me"), and there's also a pleasant veil of melancholy over their music. The singer's voice might be an acquired taste, but if you manage to get over that obstacle there's plentiful to be gained from Wan Light.
- Simon Tagestam

Two Scandinavian reviews today from Splendid:

Hanne Hukkelberg - Cast anchor
Wan Light - Carmaline

Wan Light
That grim reality
Labrador

In the press release for this EP, Wan Light are compared to such bands as The Postal Service and Galaxie 500, and although there are hints of those bands within Wan Light's music, the title track on this EP sounds like it comes directly from The Flaming Lips' "The soft bulletin" (an album I was totally obsessed with when it came out). The other 5 songs are not as fantastic as "That grim reality" (how could they?), but that doesn't mean you shouldn't buy this EP (and with its 6 tracks, you'll get your money's worth).
- Simon Tagestam

Wan Light
Live @ Camden Barfly, London, 05/10/05

Wan Light started their set at the ridiculously early time of 8:15, to a mostly empty Barfly. This band is the perfect hybrid of Mercury Rev and Flaming Lips. I hate to use clichés but it's true, and such a comparison is not a bad thing at all. The singer has a voice made out of a combination of sandpaper and glue, whilst the samples the band use are like a slightly more toned down version of modern day Flaming Lips, using the sound of hands clapping in place of Japanese robots. Tonight, just two members of the band play, with the singer back backed by an acoustic guitar player and some sparse samples. The effect of this is that greater emphasis is put on the actual performance of the songs. Momus, half-jokingly coined the genre "folk-tronica" back in 2001 but the live performance from Wan Light proves that the genre is in existence and rude health.
- Nick Levine

Download an mp3 for the song "Airborn" from Labrador Records act Wan Light: http://www.labrador.se/mp3/wan_light-airborn.mp3

Delusions of Adequacy reviews Wan Light: http://www.adequacy.net/review.php?reviewid=5472

The new Wan Light album "Carmaline" has been confirmed for a May 11 release on Labrador Records.

Labrador Records has confirmed the new Wan Light EP "That grim reality" for release on March 16 and the self-titled South Ambulance album for release on March 23. Check out some samples of the latter record from this review here: http://www.lemanchester.com/recension.asp?id=707&kat=rec

Don't forget this Sunday's FTR show at Café String with Club 8's first Swedish performance in five years! Fellow Labrador Records act Wan Light will support.

Some small updates for the last few For the Record shows: first up, Firefox has been added to the bill for the Hell on Wheels/Virtues date. Tiger Lou's wife fronts that band and they have mp3s on their website. It's also finally been confirmed that Wan Light will be one of the bands playing the Labrador Records showcase day. One more act will be added, but it's still not confirmed yet.

Lake of Tears will enter the studio on February 13 to begin work on their new album, tentatively titled "Black Brick Road". An August release on Noise Records is expected.

German radio show "45 minutes", broadcast every second sunday at 7.30 pm on Radio Blau Leipzig, recently published their best-of-the-year lists and they contain a ton of Nordic acts. Here's some highlights:

Top 100 LPs 2003
01. The Bear Quartet "angry brigade" (A West Side Fabrication)
03. David & The Citizens "until the sadness is gone" (Adrian)
05. The Legends "up against the legends" (Labrador)
06. The Radio Dept. "lesser matters" (Labrador)
08. The Embassy "futile crimes" (Service)
10. Wan Light "let's wake up somewhere else" (Labrador)
12. Mew "frengers" (Sony)
13. Monastir "the modern sound for a loser generation" (A West Side Fabrication)
16. Peter Bjorn And John "s/t" (Beat That!)
17. The Crystal Committee "forever overhead" (Chalksound)
18. Dub Sweden "welcome to our world" (Silence)
21. Franke "optimismens hån" (Service)
22. Club 8 "strangely beautiful" (Labrador)
23. Komeda "kokomemedada" (Sonet)
32. The Concretes "s/t" (Licking Fingers)
42. Broder Daniel "cruel town" (Dolores)
50. The Cardigans "long gone before daylight" (Stockholm)
57. Laakso "miss you, i'm pregnant" (Adrian)
58. The Raveonettes "chain gang of love" (Dragnet)
73. Paola "stockcity girl" (Dolores)
83. Burek V "s/t" (A West Side Fabrication)
85. Carpet People "more bad weather coming out of the rain" (Chalksound)
88. Isolation Years "it's golden" (Stickman)
89. Douglas Heart "douglas heart" (Labrador)
93. Mando Diao "bring 'em in" (Majesty)
94. The Knife "deep cuts" (Rabid)
97. Ariel Kill Him "in the pyramid" (Kasual)
99. Edson "every day, ervery second" (Labrador)

For the rest of the list, as well as their singles chart, go here: http://www.pop-on-paper.de/

Labrador recording artist Wan Light is having a release party for their new EP "Landmarks and Houses" at Kramp, Bonden Bar in Stockholm on September 18. The first 50 people in the door get a free copy of said, otherwise you gotta wait until September 22 for it to hit stores.