Another quick one today, and it’s courtesy of This Heel, who are featured more frequently than almost any artist on these pages - although both Major Parkinson and Army of Moths would obviously give them a run for their money.
This Heel is actually the vehicle for Swedish musician Martin Månsson Sjöstrand, with his DIY project falling somewhere in the void between psych, pop, prog and space rock.
And the reason for the frequent features is quite simply because he’s so prolific, churning out releases as regularly as I have meltdowns over the size of the Nordic Music Review backlog. Each one is always appreciated, and 'Museum for Lightspeed Travellers' is no exception, a release that should bring a smile to your face, courtesy of the infectious enthusiasm in particular during the two opening songs.
The title track is very typical of his style, high energy guitar riffs blasted at speed, before the track heads off at an increasing tangent. As always there’s a catchy melody and the normal mix of entertaining and completely unfathomable lyrics - here goes: “That's Cleo, a type-2 pilgrim, setting a table in the canteen. A birthday party for her machines, only to have something to clean”. Actually the title of the track should give you the idea.
But my favourite track is ‘Same Old Sounds’, irresistibly catchy, with a great guitar sound to open and again all thrown in our direction at breakneck speed - power pop meets psych. ‘Myling’ is a stripped back contrast, but the lyrics head in an almost poetic direction - "give me some light so I can see what she wants from me. Whispers of fright in the wind"
As always it’s both entertaining and enjoyable, and Martin Månsson Sjöstrand is a genuinely gifted indie songwriter. Find him on Bandcamp or Instagram.