We have been big fans of Swedish duo My darling YOU! since their self-released EPs early last decade all the way through a stunning run of releases on the Luxury Records label. They are masters of a sort of shouty, energetic pop that appealed to our teenage punk addiction in the same sort of way that Sportique did in the very early days of Matinée.

Some people used to say that Sportique were not a typical Matinée band … whatever that means … and the same people might think that about My darling YOU! but of course they would be wrong.

Sometime recently we heard a rumor that the band may have new recordings on the horizon and figured it was as good a time as any to get in touch with them. This correspondence resulted in a plan to release an album entitled ‘A Dream Come True’ this summer that collects 20 tracks from sold out EPs previously released by the band.

One of the tracks from the compilation is ‘Thanks For Letting Me Stay’ which originally appeared on the band’s final release in 2011. It’s a song about drinking too much and regretting it the next day and it has a fantastic shambolic energy to it that is typical in their recordings.

We are advancing the album with a digital single (matda016) including this song and a track called ‘Spring’ that will not be on the compilation. The single is available today in the Matinée shop or from your favorite digital retailer so we are excited to officially welcome the band to the Matinée roster. ‘Thanks For Letting Me Stay’ is also a featured track now on our Soundcloud!

The new album ‘Images of You’ (matcd086) from Sweden’s Azure Blue is out next week, but we couldn’t wait to share another single from it!

‘Event Horizon’ is a dark but hopeful story about love in the time of climate change that showcases captivating melodies, an absolutely soaring chorus, and a certain Spanish flair. It’s brilliant and our current favorite among many favorites from the new album.

The single (matda015) is available today from the Matinée shop or your favorite digital retailer, and the new album is out next Friday!

In the meantime, have a listen to ‘Event Horizon’ on our Soundcloud!

The second single from the smashing new Bubblegum Lemonade album ‘Desperately Seeking Sunshine’ (matcd085) is out now!

‘Heaven With You’ is a surefire radio hit featuring a chiming Byrds-like guitar intro, an infectious hi hat, glockenspiel, and celestial backing vocals from Sandra of fellow Scottish band Strawberry Whiplash.

To celebrate the release of the single, we’ve created a three-track EP (matda013) that showcases two extra songs the band recorded during the ‘Desperately Seeking Sunshine’ album sessions. They’re called ‘She’s A Legal High’ and ‘Fifty Shades Of Pale’ and both are exclusive to this release!

The digital single is available now in the Matinée shop and the usual digital platforms. You can also stream ‘Heaven With You’ on our Soundcloud:

New release alert! Azure Blue, one of Sweden’s most internationally acclaimed indie artists, is back with a stunning fifth album ‘Images of You’ (matcd086) and it is absolutely clear that somebody has fallen in love. Consistent with the approach on the celebrated debut album ‘Rule of Thirds’ (matcd059) in 2011, Tobias Isaksson set his main focus on the songwriting with tracks written on guitar and carefully transformed into warm analog synth soundscapes. Using his film director girlfriend as a muse, the results are heartfelt and romantic pop classics.

Cinematic opener ‘Hokarangen’ is the sound of the night bus home from the studio marking the end of an era roaming aimlessly alone, while ‘Entropy’ is a three-minute rush of synthpop perfection that signals the thrilling excitement of newfound love. ‘Event Horizon’…one of several featured singles on the album…is a dark but hopeful story about love in the time of climate change that showcases captivating melodies, a soaring chorus, and a certain Spanish flair.

‘Millions of Stars’ is another enchanting single featuring analog synth arpeggios and one of the biggest crescendos we’ve heard from nearly a decade of productions, while ‘Images of You’ is two minutes of haunting old school synthpop with ethereal female backing vocals and ‘Running with the Eventide’ slows down the pace with an especially honest love song.

‘Yesterday’s Gone’ is another single contender with a sensational singalong chorus, enticing percussion, and absolutely superb melodies, while ‘Wild for the Night’ is a keyboard-driven manic pop thrill and lead single ‘Shine On’ is a dreamy synthpop hit with shimmering reverb that brightens up the song like the northern lights.

‘Sea of Love’ is an earnest love song that further demonstrates Isaksson’s romantic side, while album closer ‘The Rose’ is a beautiful, naked ballad written and recorded in one dayis the most sincere Azure Blue track to date.

Echoing timeless pop melodies…as if Depeche Mode, New Order, and OMD grew up in Sweden instead of England…and featuring contributions from contemporary Swedish artists The Land Below and Paola, ‘Images Of You’ is consummate electronic indie and Azure Blue’s finest moment to date. The album is officially released June 14, but you can order a copy RIGHT NOW exclusively from the Matinée shop and enjoy a digital copy while you wait for the postman to deliver it. You can also stream two album tracks now on our Soundcloud!

We are very excited to release ‘We Are Magic’ from Swedish legends Red Sleeping Beauty as a single today! The song, taken from the magnificent new album ‘Stockholm’ (matcd084), is an infectious dancefloor filler that features swirling synthesizers and crystalline vocals.

The digital single (matda014) includes an exclusive alternate mix of the song ‘We Are Magic (Morning Light version)’. It is available now in the Matinée shop and all the usual digital platforms. You can also stream both tracks on our Soundcloud!

Back in 2014, a Spanish band called The Royal Landscaping Society released an eponymous mini-album on the French label Beko Disques that caught our attention. Comprised of six songs and a handful of remixes, it was the sort of album that left you wanting more…especially if you are a fan of old school Matinée favorites Harper Lee or their Sarah Records predecessor Brighter which of course we are!

Over the next few years, other tracks from The Royal Landscaping Society appeared on various compilations from other astute labels across the globe until one day we met and mutually decided they really needed to be part of the Matinée roster.

Since that day, the band has released impressive tracks on two Matinée compilations: ‘Matinée Idols’ (matcd075) in 2017 and the ‘Official Matinée World Cup’ EP (matinée 098) last year, and has recorded a third song for another Matinée compilation coming out this summer. There are also three simply stunning new recordings that will be released on a 7″ single later this year. But more on that gem another day…

While we anxiously await the 7″ release, we thought it would be a good idea to compile the tracks from the sold out mini-album and the various compilation appearances into one collection and that collection, called ‘Means of Production’, should be out sometime in July if all goes to plan. The compilation includes an impressive 16 songs – essentially everything released by the band to date including a clutch of cover versions of some indie classics you know and love – all meticulously remastered by the band exclusively for this definitive collection. Watch for more details on this release soon.

To advance the album, we are thrilled to release a digital single (matda009) today including a new version of the brilliant song ‘Goodbye’ that originally appeared on the Beko mini-album coupled with a cover of ‘A To Fade In’ by Creation Records favorites Adorable. The single is available now in the Matinée shop or from your favorite digital merchant including iTunes, Amazon, and Spotify. ‘Goodbye’ is also now featured on our Soundcloud!

Swedish pop sensations Azure Blue have a new album entitled ‘Images of You’ out next month, and the second single from the album is available now!

‘Millions of Stars’ is a firework consisting of 32 voices of custom made analog synth arpeggios and one of the biggest crescendos we’ve heard from the artist in a decade of productions. Forever blue, but deeply in love. It’s a certified smash so we couldn’t make you wait any longer to hear it.

The single is available in the form of a two-track EP (matda010) featuring the title track and a heartfelt gem called ‘The Rose’ and you can get it in the Matinée shop or from your favorite digital retailer.

The new album is set for June release and is honestly the strongest set of songs so far from Azure Blue so get ready for your summer crush! In the meantime, you can listen to ‘Millions of Stars’ on our Soundcloud!

A really fantastic new EP from The Perfect English Weather is out today! The digital single (matda012) features lead track ‘Call Me When The Rain Comes’ which is a slow builder about emigration, climate change and river fishing walks in Nova Scotia. A big favorite at recent live gigs, this is a new mix of the song originally appearing on the album ‘Don’t You Wanna Feel The Rain?’ (matcd083) and featuring live drums by Jonny Aitken of Spiritualized fame.

The EP also comes with three brand new songs exclusive to this release: “How Could I Ever?’ plus ‘She Isn’t Counting On A Miracle’ and ‘Carry Me’. They are all typical Perfect English Weather electro-acoustic classics, so what’s not to love?

The EP is available now in the Matinée shop or from the usual digital merchants. You can also stream two tracks now on our Soundcloud!

The latest single from Red Sleeping Beauty is called ‘Don’t Cry For Me, California’ and it is out today! The song, taken from the fantastic new album ‘Stockholm’ (matcd084), begins as a power ballad but morphs into a magnificent club hit, complete with 80s Pet Shop Boys orchestral flourishes.

To celebrate the release, we have created an enticing three-track EP featuring an exclusive demo of the song and a very special version ‘Ikkje Grat For Me, California’ by Norwegian popstar Dylan Mondegreen. The digital single (matda011) is available now in the Matinée shop and your favorite digital platform.

You can also stream it on our Soundcloud:

New release alert! ‘Desperately Seeking Sunshine’ (matcd085) is the eagerly awaited new album from Glasgow pop perfectionists Bubblegum Lemonade! Timed for release just as springtime reaches Scotland, the album is the latest hit parade from prolific multi-instrumentalist Laz McCluskey with a liberal dose of backing vocals by Sandra of fellow Scottish band Strawberry Whiplash.

Lead track ‘Our Mothers House’ is a jangly autobiographical radio hit proudly heralding the return of Glasgow’s finest with a song featuring Rickenbacker guitars, glockenspiel, layered harmonies and excellent backing vocals. ‘Warm Heart Cold Feet’ boasts shimmering major seventh chords, classy arpeggio guitars, a Beach Boys bass line, and a tambourine shake finish, while ‘First Dance For the Last Time’ is Laz laughing at his own mortality: classic country song writing in indie pop clothing, witty lyrics, a life-affirming zippy guitar intro, jangling Fender Jaguar guitars and plenty of sha-la-las all at 170bpm.

Never to be a Bubblegum Lemonade single, ‘Just An Album Track’ channels The Stone Roses with Madchester vibes, sunkissed harmonies, crackling record sound effects and clever lyrics on the subject of vinyl fetishism. ‘She Only Smiles For You’ is an alternative disco floor filler with Orange Juice strumming and ace harmonies, and ‘An Avenue In France’ makes its case as perhaps the most outstanding track on the album complete with French sounding melodica intro, backwards 12-string guitars, and a beautiful three part harmony about a brief holiday encounter.

Side two of the album opens with potential radio hit ‘Heaven With You’ with its chiming Byrds-like guitar intro, celestial backing vocals, an infectious hi hat, and more glockenspiel. ‘When Love Bites’ is an exceptional song with baroque instrumentation, another dose of sha-la-las, and Laz on violin, and ‘You Don’t Like Music’ is a Strokes-inspired blast of pop questioning the motivations of some in the music industry and featuring signature double-tracked Jaguar guitar solos and an instantly memorable dual vocal chorus.

‘Girls In The Song’ is an ode to women in song, referencing classic tracks by The Monkees, Velvet Underground, and The Hollies plus previous singles from Bubblegum Lemonade … a superb exercise in song structure with beautiful harmonies and a cascading 12-string climax. ‘Show Me A Miracle’, a secular hymn to the great Sunday morning lie-in, is a big production number including baggy inspired wah-wah guitar, more backing vox from Sandra, and an exciting musical climax, while final track ‘What Have You Done For Me Lately?’ is a cheeky backhanded celebration of human achievements that contrasts a soft mono verse with a loud stereo chorus and showcases jangling to the max and a blissful partial fade-out.

Bubbling with insanely catchy songs, rich instrumentation, and stunning pop melodies, ‘Desperately Seeking Sunshine’ is a very welcome return for Bubblegum Lemonade and an essential addition to any reputable record collection. The album is officially released April 26, but you can order a copy RIGHT NOW exclusively from the Matinée shop and enjoy a digital copy while you wait for the postman to deliver it. You can also stream select album tracks now on our Soundcloud!