Swedish act Azure Blue are going from strength to strength at the moment, with sensational album reviews, packed Swedish and Spanish shows, and now a Grammy award too! Wait … what was that?
It’s true … Azure Blue has joined company with indie sensations The Radio Dept., Jens Lekman, El Perro del Mar, The Honeydrips, and The Embassy by winning the best pop category at the 2012 Manifest awards, Sweden’s independent Grammy competition. The award came on the heels of rave reviews in the Swedish music press, packed shows in Malmö and Uppsala, and the band’s performance and interview on Swedish National TV. Pretty amazing, don’t you think?
Good things are happening in Spain as well, with the band playing a great show in Madrid and the Tanned Tin festival outside Valencia last weekend. They also visited the famed studio of Julio Ruiz at Spanish National Radio for an interview and live performance. Following this, ‘Rule of Thirds’ received a glowing review in Spain’s biggest daily newspaper El Pais!
The outstanding album reviews continue closer to home as well. Here are some favorite recent quotes:
“The best electro-pop record in recent memory.” —Blurt Magazine
“A downcast gentle beauty.” —Critical Mob
“Rule of Thirds is brilliant. It’s the kind of electropop album that most often strive to make, but very often fail by trying to be too clever.” —A Layer of Chips
“A hugely romantic record, bathed in feelings of regret” —The Fader
“Track after track of gorgeous, melodious songs … a huge success worthy of many hours of your time.” —Austin Town Hall
“The Catcher In The Rye is the first of three standout should-be singles which, for our kroner, illuminate the album with its pearliest dew drops (drops) of palpable pop promise.” —In Love With These Times
“Think a more optimistic Radio Dept. and you’re somewhere in the right direction.” —Streetlights As Fairgrounds
These and other reviews, including 5 star write-ups from Sweden, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the US and the UK, are collected on the album’s catalog page.
With all of these good things converging at once, album track ‘Dreamy Eyes’ is currently nearing the top of the most popular song chart on the Hype Machine blog tracker. The album is the top seller in our Matinée shop at the moment and also available digitally via the usual suspects. Treat yourself to a copy! Have a listen to the brilliant track ‘The Catcher In The Rye’ if you need further convincing: