When you are veterans in the art and culture space for many decades, a bit of aggrandizing goes a long way. Swedish alternative act The Ändå like to call themselves a “mega pop-group” who have been steadily releasing “musical gems” since September last year. The trio comprising writer and guitarist Zac O’Yeah, synth wizard Karl Gasleben and composer singer Anna Öberg, rose from an idea that was born in Goa when Gasleben and O’Yeah met.
In charge of the lyrics, O’Yeah says he’d stopped writing music as far back as 1990, but occasionally got back to it, working with Gasleben’s band Twice A Man for their song ‘Agricultural Beauty’ in the early 2000s.
He says, “When these guys, Gasleben and Anna, asked me about a year ago if I could come up with ideas for songs for a new pop album, I thought why not? It might at least be a little bit fun.” The Ändå have released three songs, all in a synth-pop friendly yet sinister sort of dancefloor style – ‘Yes,’ ‘Hey’ and ‘Moon.’ Gasleben says about the sound and moods of the group, “The Ändå is based on lust for life, with the ups and downs integrated into it as fragments the way they put chocolate chips in ice-cream. When I compose for the band it usually gets so peppy and jolly that I have to add pensive bits and pieces which may appear dark like chocolate to some listeners. But the combination of joy, happiness and thoughtfulness is what I feel is mirrored in the music.”
The work is thankfully very light owing to internet connectivity. Gasleben works on the rhythms and grooves at his studio in Sweden, sends them over to O’Yeah for lyrics written in Bengaluru and recorded in Kodagu and emails it to Öberg. O’Yeah adds, “Once she gets the stuff, Anna thinks of a melody to go with it and how to orchestrate the song, and finally Gasleben puts it all in the big mixer and makes a song out of it.” The aesthetic is certainly a bit cerebral and left-field, but retains hooks. When it comes to music videos, there’s a bit of the bizarre, with a bit of green screen magic and effects on ‘Yes’ and O’Yeah (in police uniform) bossing around Gasleben and Öberg in sped-up footage on ‘Hey’.
While O’Yeah says ‘Hey’ was a serious video, Gasleben admits they did “collapse now and then” during the shoot. Öberg adds, “I was so focused on how to follow Zac directing us how to act, so I had no time to laugh while it happened. But I was laughing constantly inside, during the shoot.”
Assisted by cinematographer Edvin Ljungström, the music videos are entirely produced by the band, leaning on Gasleben’s day job working in the corporate video space. The hilarity comes in with their latest song ‘Moon’ as well, for which Öberg says she “lay on the floor now and then, just screaming with laughter.”
It is all part of their upcoming album, Salty Mummy, which is being released track by track. Gasleben says he is in the process of mixing the songs, which should be out on March 7, followed by the next one on May 7. O’Yeah adds, “Seven is our lucky number, it is the time in minutes we take to finish a beer.” By next summer, the album will be mastered and ready for an autumn release via Swedish synth- Apop label Xenophone International.