Kindsight Kindsight Kindsight. Everyone that’s been following us for the last few years know we can’t stop talking about this band and now it’s time to talk again. On April 19 2024, we’ll release their second album “No Shame No Fame” and the first single “Tomorrow” is out now alongside a great video.
Just as with every new step and release for this band, the new album is a huge step forward. They went over the bridge from Copenhagen to Malmö in order to record with the mastermind Joakim Lindberg, and together they’ve created an indie rock record that few other can match. A record where they have have mastered the craft of distilling their artistic identity into sweet and scrappy songs, every note and detail carefully tailored so it all falls into place, for music that wakes warm memories and shines with daydreams about tomorrow.
Find out more about the record and tour dates here.
Rama Lama Records 2023
Free download at Bandcamp / Stream
PS. 30% off EVERYTHING on ramalama.se/store with the code RAMALAMA30 until the end of 2023 DS.
2023 is almost over! As usual, we've put together a compilation with some of our favourite releases from the year. It’s available to stream on all platforms and all you hi-fi lovers can get HQ-files for free over at our Bandcamp.
The Rama Lama Year 2023 has been full of ups and downs. Very hectic periods and very quiet ones. During the first six months we released a bunch of music, did our first ever Rama Lama tour in Germany, went with Kindsight to SXSW and also had the luck to catch them at our favourite place in the world - the Roskilde Festival. All dreams coming true and all very good fun.
The fall on the other side has been pretty quiet, both when it comes to releasing music and putting on gigs and there's reasons for that. We've been regrouping and rethinking a bit of how to take this little thing forward. Running a small indie label is very very tough at the moment, both when it comes to getting the finances to work (aka don't go bankrupt) and to reach out to people. The communication methods and music media that's been a key to do so is just not there in the same way anymore. We need to find new ways to create communities and more rooms for music discovery.
If you want to help out and keep supporting independent music the best you can do is spread the word about your favourite aritsts to your fellow music lovers. Go to shows, buy records, merch and digital files but even more important - spread the word.
Alright, enough wish-wash. These are the great artist's that we've released music with this year in order of appearance on the compilation, we love them all:
Mary Anne's Polar Rig - if you haven't checked out their mind-bending album, DO! Don't trust us? It made it into The Quietus "Best Psych of 2023"-list
Kindsight - two singles from the Danish indie superstars and a hint of what's to come in 2024
E. Björklund - the Delsbo Beach Club frontman returning with his signature songwriting style. Instantly catchy and with thoughtful lyrics. Add some reverb-heavy guitar riffs and you get indie rock/pop gems that both shoegazers and dreampoppers enjoy.
Echo Ladies - a band we've been following since their very first single. Incredibly nice to release their second album.
Gula Blend - Second album and a huge level up when it comes to justifying their live shows and their garage-tinged Swedish indie rock sound.
Erik Sandqvist - a bit of a bold one from us and maybe it doesn't "fit" within an indie label, but it's just so good. Spellbinding and euphorically colourful creations, blending together jazz, funk, soul and electronica. Give it a chance and start liking it before the second record.
Great Gestures - the solo project from Johannes, drummer of Kindsight. Debut EP coming on Jan 12th, one experimental indie pop single out that's both great and confusing.
Jerka - The solo project from Gula Blend's Jesper with one of the best Swedish songs ever about having to go to work
Talking Flowers - A newcomer you will hear much more from in the future! Playful and multilayered psychedelic synthesisers meets Astrid’s dreamy and mesmerising voice and creates an equally haunting and captivating soundscape.
Enjoy!
Kindsight's drummers has made a crazy and good EP, it's out on Jan 12th
Photo: Jeppe Næss-Schmidt
We’ve known Johannes Østlund Jacobsen for a few years now through his always on point and always great drumming (with one of the best live “drum faces” in the biz) as a part of our Copenhagen sweethearts Kindsight. Earlier this year he sent over his solo project Great Gestures, we listened and we were both confused and impressed. Now, we’re ready to share this very special debut EP and the first track “Flesh in the Sun” is out now.
Great Gestures functions as a playground where indie songwriting can be stretched and distorted resulting in a personal expression that sounds both naive and out there. It might bring associations to Damon Albarn's songwriting, the experiments of The Microphones or the oddness of Connan Mockasin. The EP features four tracks that are all written and composed by Østlund Jacobsen who also plays every instrument on the recordings. Together they form a unique piece of work and an insight into Johannes' creativeness that is chaotic and melodic in the best possible way.
Great Gestures EP is out on January 12th and will be followed by shows in Copenhagen (Jan 26, Underwerket), Malmö (Jan 31, Grand) and Aarhus (Feb 1, Headquarters).
Stream ‘Flesh in the Sun’ here or below
Echo Ladies joins the Rama Lama Family!
Echo Ladies are a band we have followed from the very first single, booked to our shows and recommended to everyone who enjoys being swept away by a wall of sound (as when they played so loud the power went out at a show we put on at Scalateatern in 2019). Emerging on the Swedish indie scene at the same time as our beloved Steve Buscemi’s Dreamy Eyes and sharing stages with them, Melby, Cat Princess and wy they have always felt like they should be a Rama Lama band and we’re so happy that we finally can say that they’re part of the family!
Their brilliant debut album ‘Pink Noise’ was released in 2018 and received rave reviews and featured in a bunch of best-of-2018-lists, the prestigious Rough Trade one being one of them. After touring the album in the UK and Scandinavia the band have been on a semi-hiatus during the pandemic, only playing a couple of shows in Sweden. They’re now back with a bang and expect big things from the Malmö trio this year.
The first release is the new single ‘Dirty Dancing’, a song “about a dear friend of the band who was to become a parent, and how excited she was to meet her child. It’s also the song that changed the most during the recording session at Studio Sickan. The verse became the chorus, the bridge became the verse and so on.”
Stream ‘Dirty Dancing’ here and stay tuned for more news!
Earlier this year, we announced the return of Gula Blend with the splendid indie-power-pop/rock tune ‘Helt hel’ with the promise of more to come. And here we are, with more.
Gula Blend’s new album ‘Allt har hänt’ will be out on June 2 and will be followed by some fun things later in the summer that will be announced shortly. ‘Allt har hänt’ takes their melodic and fuzzy sound to the next level with a more direct and clear sound without losing its DIY characterics and lovable live feeling. The sound ranges from classic Swedish indie to a more international garage-tinged indie rock sound and is overall great music by some of the best people we know.
Stream the single here and pre-order the album on vinyl below.
When we started Rama Lama we mostly wanted to focus on dreamy indie pop and poppy indie rock. Over the years we’ve continue to broaden what Rama Lama sounds like and today we open another door with the signing of Erik Sandqvist!
Erik has made this absolutely great instrumental album that we will release on May 12. Sandqvist stands with one foot in insie rock and the other in contemporary jazz, the result is the instrumental sax and guitar driven concept album ‘Bingo i lokalen’, a record about his family’s country house, the surrounding environment and the people there. He slowly but steadily builds his songs into rewarding crescendos, filled with both melancholia and cheeriness and always entrenched in catchy melodies.
First single ‘Kroken’ is out now and on Saturday April 1 he plays Gamla Enskede Bryggeri, tickets here.
Stream the single here and pre-order the debut album on vinyl or CD below.
Welcome to the Rama Lama family, Talking Flowers!
We have kept an eye on Talking Flowers since the brilliant self-titled debut single in 2021 and did not hesitate for a second when she reached out to us with the new material. Talking Flowers is the moniker of Malmö musician Astrid and the new double single ‘Storytelling’, which both contains the title track and second A-side ‘Bedroom Wall’ sees her take both the songwriting and producing to the next level. Playful and multilayered psychedelic synthesisers meets Astrid’s dreamy and mesmerising voice and creates an equally haunting and captivating soundscape that gives the listener a feeling of entering a Twin Peaks-esque world that is both frightening and alluring at the same time. The world of Talking Flowers is a world one often wishes that the real one would be a bit more like, a world of mystery and excitement and a lot less grey and beige colours.
Astrid “draws inspiration from the 60s, both when it comes to songwriting and recording techniques”, something that is obvious both on the debut release and the new Storytelling double single. She describes the new release this way: “When we recorded Storytelling and Bedroom Wall I was listening a lot to Margo Guryan, and we were aiming for that kind of sound in the production. Although as usual I couldn’t keep away from the synths, so it might have ended up in a more futuristic version of the 1960’s”.
Storytelling and Bedroom Wall are recorded in the legendary Tambourine Studios in Malmö (bob hund, The Cardigans etc.) and produced by Joar Sylvan.
Kindsight’s been on the rise since that magical moment when we got their lovely demos back in 2020 and instantly fell in love. Next week, we’re heading to Austin, Texas with them for SXSW and today we’re releasing new single ‘Madhouse Breakout Multitool’. Just as the latest stand alone single ‘Love You Baby All The Time’, this new track puts more layers on the band’s sound in a very interesting way. The band is working on the LP numero dos at the moment, and we can’t wait to hear what they’ve got coming up.
About the track, Kindsight says: “Madhouse Breakout Multitool concerns the true story of two siblings boarding up their house somewhere in the Danish countryside to keep safe from a breakout at the local madhouse. Taking place in a bygone age when such places could be escaped.”. A quote that gave us the chills considering we are staying in somewhat of a madhouse in Austin with PNKSLM and twin duo 7ebra.
Stream the new single here and get last year’s debut album on vinyl or CD below.
Last year, we released the self-titled debut album by JERKA. Who is JERKA then? It’s Jesper from our lovely friends in Gula Blend (news on them soon!). On the album we heard Jesper's playful signature songwriting and honest lyrics touching on subjects such as mourning, restlessness and self-destructiveness - all over tracks spanning from “indie power pop ballads” to more straight-forward indie rock. Since then, he’s made people dance in basements around Sweden (most recently a midnight show on Plan B’s dancefloor) and now he’s back with a new single. The single’s called ‘Lustigkurren’ and it’s a raw and energetic rock song, just the way we like it.
Stream the new single here and get last year’s debut album on CD below.
