Stealthy club weapon from Somepoe and duo Winter Games, all three from the subarctic expanses of Lapland in Finland. Fun to think about a trio of Finns holed up in a winter cabin in the snowy fells of northern Finland making music inspired by Jamaican and UK sound system culture. Maybe it tracks that when trapped in the cold, one would pine for the Tropics; but it’s probably more just a product of our increasingly borderless world, in which each of us is totally free to access whatever inspires us viscerally. And as I’ve remarked on other examples of Scandinavians making UK-centric music, they almost always contribute some of that distinctly Nordic precision to the sound, achieving low end heft without sacrificing the headroom needed for spacious atmosphere. Maybe the stillness of the inselberg plain and boreal forests tune their ears for it. This is out now for streaming or on bandcamp via the trio’s label, Polar Dance.

Somepoe & Winter Games – “Inna Riddim” (bc)

More music from the Nordics, this time from Icelandic skurken (Jóhann Ástuson), who I wrote about a couple of weeks ago. ‘skurken’ is the word villain in most Nordic languages, but I hear Ástuson’s music as more hopeful than nefarious. The first track he sent over is another one from his recent album Nótt, which I covered before–it’s ascendant and upward facing two-step electronica with more of the northern character I referenced above. The other two, however, are older, both with a buzzier, self-reflective quality and gives me the impression maybe he’s experienced some transformative personal progress in the past few years–or at least that he’s seeking emotional clarity, and expressing as much in his music. Grab Nótt on bandcamp.

skurken – “Midnight” (mp3)
skurken – “Twilight” (sc)
skurken – “Freezer” (sc)

For a sharp left turn to finish things off, a collaboration between Utahns Crewless and Madge. “We Don’t Sleep” is a high energy ode to the hybrid electropop and house records of the early 2010s. It’s not the kind of thing I’ve been tuned into to lately, but I just couldn’t resist those chonky piano chords and blisteringly artificial horns that remind me of that perfect and ever-ubiquitous ‘Calabria’ loop. Vitality for days on this one. This is unfortunately not on bandcamp, but it’s out for streaming, and Crewless was kind enough to allow me to provide an mp3 here.

Crewless & Madge – “We Don’t Sleep” (mp3)