David Åhlén has resurrected his Namur moniker and released a brand new single "Draw us near", now available for free download w/b-side: https://www.namurmusic.com/

Finnish alt-country act Latebirds have finished recording their new album "Last of the good ol' days" and expect to release it this coming fall. Expect a US tour around that time as well.

Promising Danish act Front and the Factory Lies Beneath (see here) have shortened their name to the much more manageable Front and the Factory and likewise streamlined their sound. Listen to four brand new tracks at myspace: https://www.myspace.com/frontfactory

Kning Disk will release the new Erik Enocksson album "With its dark tail curled ’round the garage" on May 11 in an exclusive run of 500 handmade copies. More details: https://www.kningdisk.com/02_releases_kd052.asp?id=1035

Isolation Years, Jennie Abrahamsson and Fredrik Fagerlund will play a record release show on April 24 at Scharinska in Umeå for the new Norrland music comp "Pure North". Find out more at myspace or see this article at Västerbottens Folkblad for a full tracklist.

Detektivbyrån will release the album "E18" in Japan via P-Vine Records. Said album is a collection of everything the band has recorded so far including the brilliant "Hemvägen" EP plus "Lyckans undulat", the song from the split 7" w/Hemstad and one bonus track. Official release date is May 2 and cover art can be viewed here: https://detektivbyran.blog.com/3035608/

MIC Norway reports on Madrugada's upcoming summer tour and drops a hint that the band might not be finished after all: https://www.mic.no/mic.nsf/doc/art2008042212433870703135
Personally, I think they should change the name if they decide to record something new. Without Robert Burås, it's not Madrugada.

The new Burst album will be called "Lazarus bird". Look for it this fall via Relapse.

Poodles guitarist Pontus Norgren has reportedly left the band to join Hammerfall: https://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesliv/musik/article2314625.ab (in Swedish)

Surferosa, in collaboration with an unnamed Norwegian film school, will tape their show in Oslo at Rockefeller this Saturday and have invited various guests to help make it "a once in a lifetime show." As for if/how/when the final product will be released, it's all TBA.

Jacob Felländer, a Swedish artist probably best known so far for his photography, will release his debut album "Letters from the Trenches" on June 4. Guest musicians on said album include Dan Lepp (Grand Tone Music), Patrik Andersson (Moneybrother, Club Killers, Barr). Per Nordmark (Fireside, Breach, Christian Kjellvander), Britta Persson and many more. Hear samples at myspace: https://www.myspace.com/jacobfellander

We Are Soldiers We Have Guns recently recorded a couple cover tunes at the studio of IAT.MP3 artist Sonores. One is "Olis", a new song from Björn Kleinhenz (hey, another IAT.MP3 artist!) off his forthcoming album and the second is "Parenthesis" by The Blow. No word yet on when/how they'll surface, but I'll keep you posted. In other news, you can now preview tracks from her forthcoming record "Get up, get out" right here: https://wearesoldierswehaveguns.blogspot.com/
It comes out June 30 via Stereo Test Kit.

Download a new track from Gbg-based melodic hardcore act Another Year: https://www.monumenthq.com/HTML/mp3_download.php?id=30
The band's new album "Moments don't last" will be out in May via Monument Records. Also, don't forget to check out the band when they tour Europe later this year: https://www.myspace.com/anotheryearhc

Swedish netlabel Frukt Records has two new releases from Fiktion and Fredrik Ståhl in celebration of their 1-year anniversary as a label: https://www.fruktrecords.se/

"Home" has been selected as the third single from The National Bank's latest album "Come on over to the other side". A video is under production and is said to be based on the life of Omer Bhatti.