Debut English language album Invsn released July 7th via Essential Music
Watch video for ‘#61’
The self-titled debut English language album from Swedish post-punks INVSN will see a UK release on July 7th via Essential Music. Though less outwardly aggressive as frontman Dennis Lyxzén’s former bands Refused and The (International) Noise Conspiracy, the band are no less enveloping, with their enthralling mix of 80s noir with subversively deliberate, yet forward-thinking pop.
INVSN’s Invsn embodies elements of Joy Division, Echo & The Bunnymen, lesser known seminal UK band The Sound, early outings from The Cure and modern acts like The xx and Soft Moon, all through the prism of people who loved Black Flag growing up. As with Dennis’s other projects, INVSN have managed to create something refreshingly new from classic elements of the past.
The record was created at Stockholm’s Studio Ingrid (formerly Polar Studios), with mixing duties handled by producer Nick Launay (Public Image Ltd., Nick Cave, Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Church) and Danish producer Jacob Hansen.
The creative impulses that have driven the members of INVSN since they began playing music have carried each of them aloft like a mythical muse, often forsaking careerism for the sake of authentic realism. By the time the world realized that frontman Refused had defined a generation, they were gone. In the wake of Refused’s three-album career, a multitude of bands traded on much of their innovative sound, attitude and image to gain fame and fortune.
‘#61’ opens the album and reminds listeners that music can be a world-changing force, starting at the individual level. Don’t give up on radical politics, on innovative culture, whatever has moved you inside. It’s an angry song that rails against the idea of music being relegated to a background playlist or soundtrack to a club. ‘Vaesterbotten’ captures the darkness of the wintery area near where the band calls home, opening sparsely and gradually building up in instrumentation. ‘Our Blood’ was laid down in one take and milks a few chords to maximum potential; a simple change in bass line or other slight movements altering the mood tremendously. Album closer ‘Hate’ is an anthem for the world’s misfits, picked upon outcasts and bullied kids. It’s a call to arms to let that energy become empowering.
INVSN’s Invsn receives a UK release on July 7th 2014.
INVSN are: Dennis Lyxzén – Vocals/Guitar | Sara Almgren – Bass/Vocals | Anders Stenberg – Guitar | Richard Osterman – Guitar | Andre Sandström – Drums/Percussion | Kajsa Bergsten – Guitar/Vocals | Kristina Karlsson – Keyboards/Vocals
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