OMFS! - Fara

A couple of weeks ago we covered Swedish electropop outft Sounds of Nonno, and today we bring you a little something by one of their vocalists; Fredric Johansson. Here, Frederic takes the helm of band OMFS!, and the results couldn't be more different. Whereas Sounds of Nonno were out and out synth heaven, this is paradise of another kind.

Soothing, gentle folk music that beats with a heart born of raw, untapped nature. Look out of the window, into the sky, the greenery and the stone - OMFS!'s third album in three years, Fara, is to be found in all these things.

Fara comes at a perfect time really, with Fleet Foxes' new album riding high in the charts and the public consciousness - those lured in by hushed, folky landscapes will lap this stuff up.

The title track and Spring are beautiful little concoctions - guitar strummed with the softest of touches, as if it might collapse into nothingness if any hint of force was used. The track passes through its motions like a careful work of classical poetry, ushering in new elements with the slightest of whispers - a little bit of delicate piano here, a wave of ambient synthesizer there.

Fara is available to listen to here.

Sounds of Nonno - The Crush EP

Signed to new Swedish label Jammerdosa, Sounds of Nonno are a quirky three-piece specialising in tranquil, minimal electro. The title track of their new EP The Crush abounds in bleepy videogame synths, paired with almost child-like vocals; imagine, if you will, a less forceful incarnation of Robyn.

But it's not all airy dreamscapes and twinkly electronic magic though - the basslines throb with a threat of far darker influences and in the last minute of the title track as the synths are fully 'let loose', so to speak, the track blooms outwards wonderfully.

The dance influences are felt more strongly on second track No Escape, this time led by a male vocal. An essence of fellow Scandanavian synth-poppers a-Ha seems to breathe itself into the track at times, whilst at others it seems firmly set in the clubland scene. Trance-like and beautifully melodic in its most intense moments, the whispy, ethereal cries stream all around you like the Northern Lights; shimmering streams of opalescent magic.

Into the Floor explores into more vague territory; the female vocals are back, this time stretching into a Bjork-esque siren-song. The band are at the fullest extent of their scale here, accomplishing the vision of 'arena-electro' they describe themselves at.

A lot can be said for music taking you on a kind of 'journey', but with the momentum of the pounding club beats and the eerie synthetic walls of sound Sounds of Nonno conjure up, it's a journey that's distinctly enjoyable.

More info on the release of the EP can be found here.

JMD005: Sounds of Nonno - The Crush by Jämmerdosa