In their 35th (!) year, Stockholm indiepop legends Red Sleeping Beauty decided to gently force creativity by releasing one song a month. Their fifth album ‘Diary’ (matcd094) is based on ten of those and might be their strongest set of pop songs yet.
Spanning from jangly indiepop numbers (Is This Love?, The Sound Of Summer, I’m Here Tonight) reminiscent of the band’s acclaimed ’90s singles through somber mid-tempo tracks (Summer House, This Heart’s Now Yours, Cruising Slowly, Head Up High), to straight-up dance floor fillers (New York New Me, Caroline (I Found Love), Could Have Been Me), ‘Diary’ is eclectic yet strangely coherent, thanks to the band’s knack for timeless melodies.
Now down to a duo, ‘Diary’ is enriched by inspired guest appearances from Mary Wyer (Even As We Speak), Julia Lannerheim (Acid House Kings), Jane Wildson (Papa Topo), and Emol.
“We have always been about the songs, and this approach made us focus on just that. The album just happened,” says vocalist Niklas Angergård. “Not ‘making an album’ allowed us to be freer in form and do exactly what we felt like doing that month,” adds keyboardist Mikael Matsson.
The exclusive Matinée CD version includes four bonus tracks: the final two songs from the one song a month series (Free Cake For Every Creature, If I Showed You My Heart), a Spanish version of The Sound of Summer (Canciones de Verano), and a tripped out rework of Cruising Slowly.