Release Notes
Label: Slowcraft
Release: Bottna
Date: February 5th, 2025
Mastered By: James Murray
Artwork By: Kajsa H. Bolve
Well, now… Headphone Commute’s Best of the Year feature for 2024 is all done and dusted (I hope you enjoyed this instalment and your wallet is not too sore). I spent the last two weeks unplugging from the world (even as the events around the world seemed to spin out of control), reflecting on the future direction of this platform and the next steps that I intend to take to improve upon our collective sonic journey guided by these honest words on honest music. And fear not, the authentic curation of HC-delivered content that you have hopefully grown accustomed to is here to stay, even as I branch off in a slight detour (more on that later). Meanwhile, to stay true to my words and to prove the above point, I’m excited to share with you this exclusive track premiere by a Stockholm duo of Johan Kisro and Petter Lindhagen, recording under the project name Dött ljus for the always-excellent London-based Slowcraft Records. I think it’s fair to say that if it wasn’t for James Murray‘s keen ear for the careful curation of his genre-spanning imprint, I would have never come upon this tender album, and that’s precisely the type of connection with the label owners (who put their time and energy into every single release) and artists behind the music that I seek. And now, enjoy the title track!
The music embraces playful experimentation, crossing numerous electronica styles while pairing the album’s vibrant energy with soft, moody undertones. As a sonic signpost, I hear a bit of Christian Löffler melodica mixed with some Gidge rhythmic cadence and perhaps some Kiasmos melancholia. This careful balance creates a richly layered voyage, blending sounds in ways that tantalize the neurons in just the right way, shaking off the winter clouds and pulling the listener into a warm blanket of sincerity.
Bottna is a refuge where anything can become something. Where color breaks through the cracks in the pavement. Hidden away from the intensifying hum of an outside falling apart.
— Dött ljus
The full album, Bottna, will be released this Wednesday, February 5th, 2025, as a digital download and on a limited cassette edition designed by Murray and Simon Vince with artwork by Kajsa H. Bolve. Perhaps this year, I will dust off my Sony Walkman again and put my phone on a permanent Do Not Disturb. Grab your copy via Slowcraft’s Bandcamp.
