We covered a few bands prior to our summer break that had been on a long hiatus, and Finnish rock trio Joensuu 1685 are another example of a band that haven’t released anything for a while – we’ll try and cover The Sugarrush from Finland pretty soon too. I’m sure each one has had its own reasons, but I wonder if it’s slightly easier to get material out there in the current age than it was 10-15 years ago.
They call themselves ‘noise rockers’, but Joensuu 1685 elevate their music up from bands of a similar style thanks to a euphoric gloss, and a high intensity style helped by totally convincing vocals courtesy of frontman Mikko Joensuu. The band is completed by drummer (and brother of the vocalist), Markus Joensuu (drums) and bassist Risto Joensuu, who isn’t related - although I like to think he secretly changed his name just so that he could fit in and be in the band.
Anyway new single ‘The Most Luckiest Man’ is the 3rd single from their up and coming album entitled ÖB, which is due out in October. The band explain more: “We started to write the songs in 2008 in Helsinki, jamming intensely. By 2010 we did two recording sessions in a small cabin next to a vast field in the heart of Öströbotnia, that’s when we knew we’re doing the album ÖB. That’s when the vision became clear. It was nearly done in 2010, then we just left it there and didn’t touch it for 8 years. When we got back to it in 2018 we wanted to return to the vision we had ten years before’’.
Musically they certainly seem to have matured, with a cleaner, brighter and more melodic sound, all of which is demonstrated in ‘The Most Luckiest Man’ – which sadly isn’t written about a man in Oldham who has a winning lottery ticket blown through his window in a storm. It has a huge intro, in fact the entire song feels like an intro given it builds the tension so slowly, but it finally reaches a climax with a thumping conclusion. I’m gonna make a wild guess it could easily be the opening track on that new album ÖB.
Maybe out of all the songs which they’ve released this year, the one that resonates most however is ‘Hey My Friend (We’re Here Again’), a 7 minute track with lovely brass instrumentation. It’s a good title for reintroducing themselves after a long absence too, and I’m gonna make a wild guess it could also easily be the opening track on ÖB.
I’ll find out if I’m right on October 9th, when the album is released on Gems Records.