Biography
Formed back in 2000 through a one-year experimental journey in a remotely located studio in the forested south, Sweden's Surrounded since then has continued to embrace and nurture their combination of dense instrumentation, orchestral arrangements, surreal lyrics and melodic, crafted compositions.
Initially mainly influenced by "Meddle"-era Pink Floyd and Simon&Garfunkel, gradually contemporary artists like The Flaming Lips, Grandaddy and Built to Spill started having a growing impact on Surrounded's emerging collection of songs, embodying a colourful spectrum within a soundscape almost overflowing with mellotrons, strings, samples and layers of hushed electric guitars.
When contemplating different tracks on the band's critically acclaimed albums "Safety In Numbers" and "The Nautilus Years" you may unintentionally find yourself wrapped in either ethereal bliss, fragile beauty or even a noisy, fuzzed-out melancholy. The songs, simultaneously haunting and sedating, usually expand in dreamy bursts instead of hurrying to get to the next catchy chorus while a deep sadness, hard to grasp or define, temporarily gets a fresh shine on its face by a subtle twinkle-of-the-eye optimism and a persevering hypnotic intensity.
Resting securely on the foundation and the concept of their previous work, Surrounded this spring may take their adventurous songcraft one extra step further into the lush world of vintage technicolor and unpolished high-fidelity with the upcoming "Oppenheimer and Woodstock". Recorded and arranged in sessions during almost a year the mixing process now has being handed over to top producers Tony Doogan(Mogwai, Belle and Sebastian, Snow Patrol), Bill Racine(The Flaming Lips, Sparklehorse, Mates of State) and Paul Mahajan(TV on the Radio, The National, Liars). What to expect is charming bittersweetness and breath-taking moments on yet another moody, shimmering soundtrack-to-life album you succeedingly may get to know and discover through subsequent visits and travels.
- Mårten Rydell (vocals, guitar)
- Marcus Knutsson (guitar)
- Johannes Linder (drums)
- Erik Gustafsson (keys)
- Victor Åderman-Sandin (bass)