We mean to write about the Amason album ‘Sky City’ when it first came out (I think it reached the UK late August), but it had received a fair bit of coverage in other music publications, so we decided to come back to it at a later date when we’d had chance to get to know it better. This was obviously a big mistake, we have a never ending list of bands we want to tell you about, and the Swedish band consisting of members from bands such as Little Majorette, Dungen and Mike Snow got slightly forgotten about - at least from a review perspective.
But actually it still remains one of my most listened to albums over the last 3 months, this is a stylish, smooth and creative album with synths and piano at its heart, but which will appeal to a wide range of musical lovers no matter what genre of music is your real preference. It has a real laid back quality, well constructed and the vocals, especially from Amanda Bergman are outstanding. The 70s and 80s influences come through really clearly on the album, but it never feels like it’s trying to throw you back to a different era.
Highlights of the album include ‘Kelly’, which reminds me of bands such as Metronomy at their best, the beautifully delivered ‘Went to War’, and the outstanding ‘Velodrome’, with its jaunty melody and a really effective if simple piano theme. And I also love the piano based ‘The Moon As a Kite’, which to me is the stand out track of the album, a truly lovely song.
This is a clever and classy sounding album, with outstanding songwriting at its heart. I admit that I’m not comfortable always with the slight switch in styles between songs, and I feel sometimes feel too much of an outsider looking in. But I know I will continue to listen to it, almost as much as I will any other album this year, ‘Sky City’ is a seriously good album that would be high on my list of recommendations to people wanting to explore new Nordic music.
Nordic Music Review 8/10