Mikael Carlsson and Mathias Nilsson both have solid track records in indie pop. Carlsson previously led the band Dorotea before turning to his electronic-leaning side project the Honeydrips, under which name he released 2007’s gentle-but-strong Here Comes the Future and supported Jens Lekman on a U.S. tour; Nilsson put out the Wake- and Orange Juice-inspired records with a group called Twig. A couple of years ago they united under a less Anglophone-friendly name, WÆE, and put out an EP, resa till mark, that was so unlike either of their previous discographies that Sweden’s SVT wasn’t far off in describing it — if our Google Translate is correct — as mixing “dub and black metal.” Now comes the duo’s first original song since 2011, and it’s closer to what drew us to Honeydrips in the first place, with Carlsson’s tuneful bedsit-pop vocals now set amid shoegaze pound and drift. The effect recalls underrated early My Bloody Valentine songs such as “Never Say Goodbye,” especially combined with the starkly lit, hair-waving visual accompaniment. WÆE’s name might be hard to type, but so far they’re almost as difficult to define.
Swedish Indie-Pop Maestros WAEE Share Shoegaze-Streaked ‘Bright’ Via Blown-Out Video
