I love hearing from bands that we haven't heard from for a while, and baula definitely fit into that category, having not released a track since 2019. They're a Swedish / Icelandic duo consisting of Karolina Thunberg and Ísak Ásgeirsson, and I originally wrote about their fabulous piano driven debut 'Don't Bother' in 2016, before releasing their shimmering guitar indie EP 'Drought', which was also featured by our friends at the 'official' (and sadly no more) Nordic music publication JaJaJaMusic.
Anyway their new song 'mercury in retrograde' is the 1st from a brand new album, which is high up on the list of releases I'm now looking forward to in 2024. They say the track "dives into the psyche of a person so lonely and desperate for community that they are led into the jaws of extremism. Something that is equally frightening and sad." Very interesting of course, not sure I've quite heard that subject considered so directly in lyrics before.
This is a really good track, the driven high tempo opening sets it up perfectly, Thunberg's vocals are sublime and there's a strong melody in both verse and chorus. Proper indie guitar music, and definitely in my favourite tracks of the year so far.
The album meanwhile sounds like it will definitely register on our Mirel Wagner Scale of Bleakness, apparently offering "no redemptive turning point, no insights or solutions. It simply reflects the misery of depression, from initial doubts about one’s self and life, to the final blow".