Swedish indie pop duo Solander’s Fredrik Karlsson and Anja Linna initially planned to draw inspiration from the natural world for their upcoming 2014 release, Monochromatic Memories (and, presumably, lead single “All Opportunities”). Instead, however, the band suffered a “great loss” while touring, and this personal experience was so profound that it couldn’t help but inform the duo’s creative output. Although a listener doesn’t necessarily need this backstory to parse the sounds of “All Opportunities,” knowing it does provide a useful entry into the song’s misty strains.
Opening with the pitter-pattering heartbeat of a drum before drawn-out synths swell into background vocals, the structure of this song’s instrumentation evokes the ambiance of a forest cathedral. Then, with the addition of Karlsson’s haunted lyrics and the dark touch of Linna’s cello, the woodland atmosphere of “All Opportunities” fills with a distinctly raw human presence. In effect, this song blends Solander’s organic inspiration with their circumstantial influences beautifully, and, through the combination, imparts a grandeur to both.