The Swedish band Serenades’ debut EP, titled Come Home, will finish off 2011 and simultaneously give us a taste of what’s to come in the New Year. Expected to take over the 2012 music scene, this Stockholm-based duo is comprised of notable songwriters Adam Olenlus and Markus Krunegard who were previously partnered up in the band Shout Out Louds.
A nice change from the abundance of midwestern garage-band types, the fact that these guys have a different home base is eye catching enough. Perhaps the reason they have such a deep understanding of music, and the potential appeal a single song could have, is not just attributed to their experience as musicians, but because they are not American. Though Serenades has definitely followed suit with the type of “electric” sound that is affluent in a great deal of American indie music, their strong use of percussions and pianos overlay distracts us from that point, and allows us to deem them “unique.”
The song “Oceans” has that perfect “pick me up” chorus that you just don’t want to end, but when it does we’re given an equally powerful bridge that hums to the rhythm. “Miracles” is very similar and has an intricate combination of funky electronics with smooth harmonies. This time around it seems Olenlus and Krunegard have adopted a more mature, laidback sound, but still laced with their signature feel-good lyrics.