The Livelong June – Self Oppressor (Album – ScentAir Records)
Genre/Influences: Electro-Pop, Indie-Pop.
Format: Digital, CD.
Background/Info: Five years after their great debut album (cf. “The Art Of Living”) Swedish duo The Livelong June strike back with “Self Oppressor”.
Content: The sound remains in the line of the debut work; a perfect fusion between Electro- and Indie-Pop. The songs have been empowered with guitar play while remaining melodic. One of the main characteristics remain the singer’s very particular timbre of voice reminding me of Placebo frontman Brian Molko.
+ + + : I remain addicted to the ‘power-pop’ style of this band. They don’t reinvent anything and yet this is not a typical Electro-Pop production. There’s a naughty touch on top of their work; something unpolished and yet melodic. It makes the band’s originality resulting in a few new noticeable songs like the opening title song, “The Greatest Loss”, the slower “The Weight Of The World” and the somewhat Body-Pop sounding “Love Song”.
– – – : I’m still not a fan of the album’s front cover. Production wise the sound mixing could have been better. I’m not a huge fan of the last song which sounds like white noise until something happens after 9 minutes. “Self Oppressor” is however a cool piece of music but with fewer highlights than the previous album.
Conclusion: The Lifelong June remains my referential band from the ScentAir roster; great and powerful Electro/Indie-Pop music.
Best songs: “Self Oppressor”, “The Greatest Loss”, “The Weight Of The World”, “Love Song”, “Betrayal”.
Rate: 8.
Artist: www.thelivelongjune.com / www.facebook.com/thelivelongjune
Label: www.scent-air.ru / www.facebook.com/ScentairRecords
About The Livelong June
The Livelong June is a Swedish duo formed in 2013, comprising vocalist Benny Gustavsson and Marcus Rejnevik. The band signed to ScentAir Records for its 11-track debut album, “The Art Of Living”, released in 2018. “Self Oppressor” follows five years later on the same label, again mixing electro-pop and indie-pop with guitar-driven arrangements.
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I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.
